we 4 
- 
eres 


we an 
hae 
“aay 
Coney 
See 
SSS Espa 


enna 


Le bela tee 


‘ 


A Vise 


boss 
Pe 
Sead 


hi 


Fagen Sos 


Saks 


me EN 


ee ar SI Se 


NOY hak aR SE teh SS Cte RS SOS 
: = Z 5 


ae “ 


wens 


Fatih a td a Fd gence 


ce aot ae hpat ea ey idee te ted 
Ly f Aa f 


PRESENTED TO THE LIBRARY 


OF 


PRINCETON TMEOLOGICAL SEMINARY 


AS h'4 


Mrs. Alexander Proudfit. 
BReLeS i7ite. Lore 
Mahan, Asa, 1800-1889. 


The baptism of the Holy | 
Ghost | 


Digitized by the Internet Archive 
in 2022 with funding from 
Princeton Theological Seminary Library 


https://archive.org/details/baptismofholyghoOOmaha 


THE 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 


(BY 
REV. ASA MAHAN, D.D., 


AUTHOR OF 


‘© CHRISTIAN PERFECTION,” ‘‘TRUE BELIEVER,” ‘“‘ SCIENCE OF NATURAL THEOLOGY,” 


HUG REG. 


‘* Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed ?” — PAuL. 


NEW YORK: 


We Com P ASE NEER., “JR. 
14 BIBLE HOUSE. 


1870. 


Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1870, by 
W. C. PALMER, JR. 
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 


Stereotyped at 
THE WOMEN'S PRINTING House, 
Righth Street and Avenue A, 
New York. 


PREEBACE, 


‘*THE BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST,”? ‘HE SHALL BAPTIZE YOU 
WITH THE HOLY GHOST.” ‘* THIS IS HE WHICH BAPTIZETH WITH 
THE HOLY GHOST,’’ 


The above, and other similar forms of words, have often met your eye, 
reader, as you have turned over the sacred page. What great truth of 
God, or fact of the Christian life, do they suggest to your mind? Have 
you any definite conception of their real import? The Scriptures also 
speak of ‘* the promise of the Spirit,’ and of ‘the Holy Spirit of prom- 
ise,” and our Saviour asks the question, ‘How much more shall your 
heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?” What do 
such a promise, and such a question, import? Have you well considered 
the subject ? or are your views vague and indefinite in respect to it?  ‘T 


will pray the Father for you,’’ says our Saviour, ‘*and he will give you 


another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever.” **T tell you” 


the truth,”’ he adds, ‘‘ that it is expedient for you, that I go away: for, 
if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you.’? ‘* Have you 
understood all these things ?” 

There is another class of passages relating to ‘the promise of the 
Spirit, —a class which demands very special regard. We refer to such 
as the following: ‘‘ He that believeth on me, as the Scriptures hath said, 
out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. But this he spake of 
the Spirit, which they that believed on him should receive [that, conse- 
quently, none had then received]: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given ; 
because Jesus was not yet glorified.’? What fulness of blessedness do 


(iii) 


ot 


hal 


lv PREFACE. 


you enjoy, reader, if to you the Holy Ghost has been given as here 
promised? If that blessedness is not yours, but one reason can be as- 
signed for the melancholy fact: the Holy Ghost, as here promised, has 
not yet been given to you. Paul put this important question to certain 
believers, when he first met them, to wit: ‘‘ Have ye received the Holy 
Ghost sizce ye believed??? Does not this question imply that the 
promise of the Spirit awaits the believer after conversion? Does not 
the apostle refer to the same great truth, in the following statement to 
believers at Ephesus? ‘In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard 
the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also, a/¢er that 
ye believed, ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.”” Have you 
fully apprehended, and duly pondered, the import of such a question and 
of such statements as the above? Does not the doctrine of the baptism 
of the Holy Ghost need, at the present time especially, when so much is 
thought and said upon the subject, a careful and prayerful examination, 
and a full elucidation ? 

Such suggestions may tend to prepare the mind of the reader to peruse 
the following treatise, with a proper appreciation of the importance of 
the subject therein professedly elucidated. The object of the work is not 
mere elucidation or conviction: but these, as a means to a higher end, the 
introduction of the reader to the privileges and immunities of ‘‘ the Higher 
Life,” ‘* the glorious liberty of the sons of God.” If the doctrine taught 


- in this treatise is true, and that doctrine has been correctly set forth and 


elucidated, then we may say with truth, ‘‘ Blessed is he that readeth and 
they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which 
are written therein.”’ 

THE AUTHOR. 
| Adrian College, Nov. 18, 1870. 


CONTENTS. 


DISCOURSE I. 


INTRODUCTORY— ‘‘ THE .NEW MAN,’’ AND GOD’S METHOD OF AT- 
TAINMENT. 


We must aim to conform to God’s Pattern and Method of Attainment — “The new 
Man in Christ Jesus” — God’s revealed Method of Righteousness — Evils of a 
Failure in the Spiritual Life—Two Forms of Doctrine in respect to ‘the 
Promise of the Spirit’—The true Doctrine verified —A Word to Pastors 
and -Leachers-—— A Word to the Reader.... ...s00 secceevercs wia'scie's ececees 7 


DISCOURSE II. 


EXPERIENCE AND TEACHINGS OF OUR SAVIOUR IN RESPECT TO THE 
BAPTISM OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. 


Christ’s Relations to the Holy Spirit—Relations of His public Ministry to the 
Spirit— What Christ said and taught on this Subject—Plan of Christ in 
regard to the Agency of the Church— What Christ has done to consummate 
this Plan — One Word of Caution and Admonition........cccscocsscccceccccse 20 


DISCOURSE III, 


DOCTRINE OF THE BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST EXPLAINED AND 
ELUCIDATED. 


The Spirit, when given, and on what Conditions—Sealing of the Spirit—The 
Earnest of the Spirit— Fellowship of the Spirit, and the Results — Power of 
the Spirit—The Waters of Life— Diversity of Spiritual Gifts, why conferred 

. —The Gift of Prophecy in the New Testament Church —The Pentecostal Bap- 
tism—The Holy Spirit a permanent personal Presence— The Nature of the 
Promise of the Spirit— Some of the Consequences of this Baptism —Condi- 
tions on which this Baptism may be obtained..............ss0000- odesviatle oe eine ae 


CONTENTS. 


DISCOURSE IV. 


BAPTISMS OF THE SPIRIT UNDER THE OLD AND NEW DISPENSATIONS 


COMPARED. 


Historic Facts of the Case — Baptisms of the Spirit under the two Dispensations 


compared — Why many Christians magnify the Privileges of Old ‘Testament 
Saints, and of the Apostles prior to Christ’s Crucifixion — Degree of sanctified 


_ Character and Spiritual Power expected under the two Dispensations — The 


primitive and modern Church —The State towards which the Church is ad- 
vancing —The Power of the Spirit now and in Apostolic Times..... Guaicas noe 


DISCOURSE V. 


BAPTISM OF THE SPIRIT UNDER THE NEW DISPENSATION. 


More now expected and required of us than was possible under the former Dispen- 


sation — Some of the historic Results of this Baptism under this Dispensation 
— Case of the Apostles —The immediate Successors of the Apostles — Baptisms 
of the Spirit during the Dark Ages — Baptisms of the Spirit since the Refor- 
mation — Case of Luther— The Scotch Worthies — Wesley and his ‘Associates 
— The Tenants — President Edwards —Mrs. Edwards — Merle D’Aubigné — 
Mr. Carpenter — President Finney — Some of the special Peculiarities which 
characterize all who receive this Baptism..........sssee- cin eeddtekoenadpaman 


DISCOURSE VI. 


MENTAL STATES IN WHICH THIS BAPTISM IS RECEIVED. 


Prerequisite State — The Case of Moses — The Case of a little Child — The Case of 


Elisha— An aged Minister —The Case of Paul—Case of Mr. Carpenter — 
The Case of J. B. Taylor — My own Case —The Cases of Mr. Wesley, Madame 
Guyon, and others— “The elect Sister” — The Object in giving the above 
Facts and Illustrations........ hse ght ele ge oe sewers ‘aie seeps OT ey 


DISCOURSE VII. 


MISCELLANEOUS SUGGESTIONS IN REGARD TO THIS DOCTRINE. 


Recapitulation of the Argument — Cautions to those who have not yet received, but 


are seeking this Baptism — Positive Counsels and Admonitions to all who are 
seeking this divine Anointing —The Discipline of the Spirit — Temptations and 
Errors incident to this Higher Life: 1. Temptation to Spiritual Pride; 2. 
Spiritual Presumption; 3. Mistaking the true and proper Sphere of Divine 


58 


75 


- 94 


Teaching and Illumination ; 4. Pride of Character —Conclusion......-++++++ 113 


CONTENTS. 


DISCOURSE VIII. 


THE FOUNTAIN OPENED FOR SIN AND FOR UNCLEANNESS, OR THE 


CLEANSING POWER OF THE SPIRIT. 


The Figure explained —The Figure applied — Meaning of the Words, “ in that 
Day” —The Meaning of the Prophecy —The new Era the Theme of all the 
Prophets — What has been, and is to be—— When is Christ such a Fountain to 
Believers ?—— When this Salvation is near to the Believer — When Christ is in 
one Individual, this ‘‘ Fountain opened” for others — When one Church sus- 
tains to others this Divine Relation — What will hereafter constitute the Glory 
ortne osname of Methodisiny soe. das encase toa dthiiae sos seve ste bec ox engal acne 


DISCOURSE IX. 


THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE SPIRIT. 


-Peculiarity of John as a Writer—The Range of his Experience-— Object of the 
Apostle in mapping out his own Experience—The Idea represented by the 
Term Fellowship — Conditions of Fellowship — Extent and Limits of such Fel- 
lowship — Effects of Fellowship — Fellowship with God possible — Fellowship 
with God, what it is — Effects of this Fellowship — Fellowship one with another 
— Our moral and spiritual State when we have not Divine Fellowship —The 
two Classes of Believers addressed in the first Epistle of John—The Extent 
and Limits of practicable Christian Attainment in this Life......sesccccseccss 


DISCOURSE X. 


132 


I5z 


THE CONSOLATION OF THE SPIRIT, OR THE USES OF AFFLICTIVE 


PROVIDENCES. 


The Figure explained — Real Excellence the Result of Endurance — Afflictions, 
when beneficial — Afflictions, their specific Uses— Discipline the human to 


subjection to the Divine Will— They strengthen and confirm Christian Virtue — 


Impart Assurance of Hope —Impart happifying Visions of the eternal Future 
— They impart Soul-satisfying Visions of Christ— Develop the divinest Vir- 
tues in their divinest Forms— Teach the Soul what Sorrow and Afflictions 


Mean —Impart Power for good to the Christian— When has Patience had its » 


perfect Work — How we should regard ourselves when afflicted — How a truly 
sanctified Mind comes to regard Affliction— All the above exemplified in the 
Experience of Paul— Suffering and Sorrow as they appear in Eternity — 
SOE Ce LEN Get a? pide cin teis diate et vd,e ais ba We,» ie HOR a.dcelsia wialdiels ale ganas eeete's 


167 


Vili CONTENTS. 


DISCOURSE XI. 
THE UNITY OF THE SPIRIT. 


Passage explained — Unity of the Spirit — “‘ Unity of the Spirit in the Bond of 
Peace” — “To keep the Unity of the Spirit in the Bond of Peace” — The 
Duty before us wide in its Applications — How Discord in the Household of 
Faith should be regarded —True and proper Conditions of Christian Fellow- 
ship — Proper Conditions of Denominational Fellowship.......cccccccsceecces 186 


DISCOURSE XII. 


WITNESS, DEMONSTRATION, AND POWER OF THE SPIRIT. 


Language employed by the sacred Writers to represent the Relations of the Mind 
to the Truth when the Mind is under the Illumination of the Spirit — Diverse 
Forms and Degrees of Conviction — Facts and Illustrations in respect to Divine 
Illumination —The Witness of the Spirit to the Truth—The Witness of the 
Spirit “‘ with our Spirit, that we are the Children of God”? —- The Power of the 
Spirit —The Believer with and without “‘ the Power of the Spirit”? —The Secret 
of Strength in the Christian Life—The Principle of Fear, as an Element of 
Christian Character ..cccccccccccccccscccvcccccccccecccccccccccvevessesoess 19J 


Baptism or THE Hoty Guost. 


DISCOURSE IL 


INTRODUCTORY. THE “NEW MAN,” AND GOD'S 
METHOD OF ATTAINMENT. 


Joun vii. 37-39 —“‘In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and 
cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. 
“ Fe that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers 


of living water. 
“(But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: 
for the Holy Ghost was not yet given ; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.) ” 
RoMANS 1x. 30-32—‘‘ What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed 
not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is 


of faith. 
‘“< But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law 


of righteousness. 2 ; 
Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the 


law. For they stumbled at that stumbling-stone.” 


WE MUST AIM TO CONFORM TO GOD’S PATTERN, AND METHOD 
OF OPERATION. 


WueEn Moses was about to build the Tabernacle, he received 
from God a solemn and specific admonition to “make all 
things according to the pattern shown him in the Mount.” 
We are divinely taught and admonished in this requirement, 
that whenever we attempt to accomplish any specific work 
which God has assigned us, we must, if we would not have 
the work marred in our hands, strictly conform to God's re- 
vealed pattern and method of operation. 


8 BAPTISM OF THE EOLY GHoOst. 


In the Scriptures we have very distinctly revealed a divine- 
ly developed and perfected pattern, or model of Christian 
character, to which every believer is required to conform. God 
has also therein disclosed, with equal distinctness, the method 
by which Christian character may take on the prescribed 
forms of beauty and perfection. ‘This character 1s represent- 
ed by the words “new man,” as opposed to “the old man,” 
our former moral and spiritual selves. The latter we are re- 
quired to “put off,’ and the former, to “take on.” If we 
have failed to realize in our Christian character and experi- 
ence a// that is represented by the words, ‘‘new man in Christ 
Jesus,” it must be for one of two reasons, or for both united. 
Either we have not attempted obedience to the command be- 
fore us, or we have failed to conform to God’s revealed meth- 
od of righteousness. 

‘T'wo inquiries of vital importance here present themselves, 
to wit: What is this “‘new man in Christ Jesus,’ — that is, 
God’s revealed pattern of Christian character; and what is 
his revealed method or plan, by which we may, as required, 
“nut off the old,” and “put on the new man” ? ‘To each of 
these questions we will now proceed to give a concise and 
specific answer. 


‘““THE NEW MAN IN CHRIST JESUS.” 


In Old Testament prophecy we have a very distinct reve- 
lation of God’s ideal of the New Testament saint. He is a 
redeemed sinner, who, under the provisions and influences of 
“the new covenant,” has been divinely cleansed ‘from 
ali his filthiness and from all his idols,” and whose ‘“ iniquities 
shall be sought for, and there shall be none, and his sins, 
and they shall not be found.” In ‘his feebleness he is as 
David,” and in his strength ‘‘as the Lord, as the angel of the 
Lord before him.” “The sun is no more his light by day, 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GUOST. 9 


neither for brightness does the moon give light unto him ; 
but the Lord is unto him an everlasting light, and his God, 
his glory. His sun does no more go down, neither does his 
moon withdraw itself: for the Lord is his everlasting light, and 
the days of his mourning are ended.” In his experience has 
been realized, and is being realized, all that was spoken of by 

the prophet Joel: 3 

‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I 
will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and 
your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see 
visions, and your old men shall dream dreams : 

‘And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour 
out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy.” 

In the New Testament, this “‘new man” is revealed as 
‘‘after God created in righteousness and true holiness,” and as 
“renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created 
him ;” as “beholding with open face the glory of the Lord, 
and being changed into the same image from glory to glory zu 
‘“‘ags comprehending the breadth, and length, and depth, and - 
height, and knowing the love of Christ, which passeth knowl- 
edge, and being filled with all the fulness of God;” as “ walk- 
ing in the light, as Godis in the light ;” as “ having been made 
perfect in love ;” and as “having fellowship with the Father, 
and with his Son Jesus Christ.” 

To him, “ Christ manifests himself,” and is “formed within 
him, the hope of glory.” He is “crucified with Christ,” and 
“by the cross is crucified to the world, and the world to him.” 
‘‘ He is in the world as Christ was in the world,’ and “in 
the name of Christ asks and receives, until his joy is full;” 
and “ believing in Christ he rejoices with joy unspeakable, and 
full of glory ;” “Out of his belly flow rivers of living water.” 
‘¢ When weak, he is made strong,” and “ in tribulation, distress, 
persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, sword, death, and life,” 

1* 


10 BAPTISM OF ‘THE HOLY GHOST. 


he is “more than a conqueror, through Him that hath loved 
Lis. 

In his experience, “tribulation worketh patience ; and pa- 
tience, experience ; and experience, hope ;” and ‘‘all things work 
together for his good.” When “troubled on every side, he is not 
distressed ; when perplexed, he is not in despair ; when perse- 
cuted, he is not forsaken ; and when cast down, he is not de- 
stroyed.” In every condition of existence he finds deep 
content in the centre of the sweet will of God, and verifies 
in experience the great central fact of the divine life — that 
‘we can do all things through Christ, who strengtheneth us.” 

Clad in the panoply of God, ‘he stands in the evil day,” 
and ‘‘quenches all the fiery darts of the wicked.” “ His faith 
groweth exceedingly,” and his ‘“ charity aboundeth ;” and he 
is constantly growing “into the stature of the fulness of 
Christ.” He also “has power with God and with men.” 
“ He asks what he will, and it is done unto him.” As reflecting 
the image and glory of Christ, he is “ the light of the world,” 
and ‘the salt of the earth.” Such is God’s revealed pattern 
of the New Testament saint, “the new man” whom we are 
required to “ put on.” 


GOD’S REVEALED METHOD OF RIGHTEOUSNESS. 


No one will question the correctness of the above presen- 
tation of God’s revealed pattern of the New Testament saint, 
or affirm that we have given any unauthorized coloring to 
that representation. How shall we obey the command, re- 
quiring us to “put off the old,’ and to “put on the new, 
man?” Have we arevealed method of obedience? In an- 
swer to such inquiries, we remark : 

_]. That whenever any of the leading characteristics of ‘the 
new man” are referred to in the Bible, they are specifically 
represented as induced by the zudwelling presence, special 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 11 


agency and influence of the Holy Spirit. Do we *“‘ behold 
with open face the glory of the Lord,” and are we thereby 
“changed into the same image”? It is “by the Spirit of 
of the Lord ;” and this “liberty,” this cloudless sunlight, we 
are expressly taught, is enjoyed where, and only “ where the 
Spirit of the Lord is.” Do we “have fellowship with the 
Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ?” Does God “dwell 
in us and walk in us,’ and do Christ and the Father ‘come 
to us,” and “make their abode inus’”? All this, as we are 
expressly taught, is but “the fellowship of the Spirit;” the 
fellowship which the Spirit induces and imparts. 

Do we enjoy “assurance of hope”? It is because “ the 
Spirit testifies to our spirit that we are the children of God.” 
Have we power in prayer? It is because “the Spirit mak- 
eth intercession for the saints, according to the will of God.” 

Do we “mortify the deeds of the body”? It is ‘through 
the Spirit.” Do we “comprehend the breadth, and depth, and 
length, and height, and know the love of Christ, which pas- 
seth knowledge” ? It is because we have been previously 
“strengthened with might by the Spirit in the inner man.” 
Does Christ become to us “ wisdom, righteousness, sanctifi- 
cation, and redemption” ? It is because he is made such to 
us “of God;” that is, by the Spirit of God—the Spint “re- 
vealing Christ in us,” and showing us His grace and glory. 

When Christ promises to every believer that ‘out of his 
belly shall flow rivers of living water,’ we must bear in mind 
that “this he spake of the Spirit.” If, then, we would “ put 
off the old man with his deeds,” and ** put on the new man, 
who after God is created in righteousness and true holiness,” 
it must be through the prior indwelling of the Spirit in - 
our hearts. On no other condition can we, in full con- 
formity to God’s revealed pattern of Christian character, be- 
come New Testament saints, | 


ab, BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GIOST. 


2. This indwelling presence of the Spirit in our hearts — the 
presence through which all these revelations of the divine grace 
and glory occur, and all these moral and spiritual transforma- 
tions are induced — through which all these divine fellowships 
are possessed, and these assurances, ‘ everlasting consolations 
and good hope, through grace,” and this fulness of joy, are 
vouchsafed — this indwelling presence of the Spirit in our 
hearts, we say, is distinctly revealed, as promised to us, and 
given to us, AFTER we have, through his convicting power, 
“ repented of sin, and believed in Christ.” 

Nothing is or can be more plain than are the teachings of 
inspiration on this subject. ‘‘ Faith cometh by hearing ;” “ the 
sealing and earnest of the Spirit” are received “after we have 
believed.” When Christ ‘spoke of the Spirit,” he spoke of a 
blessing which “they that believe were afterward to receive.” 
The Spirit ‘convinces the world of sin, of righteousness, and 
of judgment,” and thus induces “ repentance toward God, and 
faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.” He never, however, as 
specifically promised, ‘‘comes upon,” “falls upon,” or ‘en- 
dues with power from on high” any but such as have already 
believed. : 

The inquiry which inspired apostles put to recognized be- -" 
lievers was this: “‘ Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye ' : 
believed ?” 

As soon as individuals were recognized as real believers, 4 
special prayer was offered for them that ‘“ they might receive “an 
the Holy Ghost.” No believer, let us ever bear in mind, can a 
fully realize in experience God’s revealed pattern of the » “- 
Christian character and life, but upon this one condition, that . 
he is, “‘ after he has believed,” “‘endued with power from on 
high.” Then, and not till then, will the waters of life, as 
promised (John vii. 38), well up in, and flow out from, his 
heart, and he become “filled with all the fulness of God.” 


BAPTISM OF. THE HOLY GHOST. 73 


3. The indwelling presence and power of the Spirit, “the 
baptism of the Holy Ghost,” are, according to the express 
teachings of inspiration, to be sought and received by faith in 
God's word of promise, on the part of the believer, after he 
has believed ; just as pardon and eternal life are to be sought 
by the sinner Zrior to justification. ‘* How much more shall 
your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask 
Him.” Between the believer and the gift, the Spint, lies a 
divine promise: ‘the promise of the Spirit.” If this promise | 
is not embraced by faith, the gift, “the sealing and earnest of 
the Spirit,” will not be vouchsafed. . 

Hence the apostles, as soon as a sinner was converted, and 
became a believer in Christ, turned and fixed his eye upon 
“the promise of the Spirit,” and this as the crowning blessing 
of divine grace, as the blessing which was to be sought by 
faith, immediately after justification. Before Christ would 
allow his disciples to enter upon their world mission, he com- 
manded them to “tarry in Jerusalem, until they were endued 
with power from on high.” So he requires every believer, be- 
fore he enters upon his life work, to tarry before God, and pray 
and wait, and wait and pray, until “the Holy Ghost shall fall 
upon him,” as ‘he didupon the disciples at the beginning.” 

Here we have God’s revealed method of righteousness. 
That is, of rendering real, in our experience and character, 
God’s own divinely developed and perfected ideal or pat- 
tern of the New Testament saint. If, in our endeavors to 
render that model real in our experience, we ‘“ make all things 
according to the pattern shown us in the Mount,” and if those 
endeavors accord with God's revealed method of righteous- 
ness, our characters and lives will be constantly taking on new 
and higher and higher forms of radiant beauty and perfection. 
If, on the other hand, we fail to put forth the requisite endea- 
vors, or if those endeavors shall take a wrong direction, God 


14 BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 


willutterly reject us, as “‘reprobate silver ;”” or our spiritual lives 
will ever take on a feeble and sickly growth, and that when 
we should be constantly rising ‘‘into the measure of the sta- 
ture of the fulness of Christ.” 


THE EVILS OF A FAILURE IN THE SPIRITUAL LIFE. 


“My life,” said a very aged man, the most wealthy man that 
had then lived in this nation, ‘my life is a complete failure.” 
This term, failure, represents one of the most affectingly mel- 
ancholy ideas that ever approached human thought. Life 
may be a failure for various reasons. No effective endeavors 
may be put forth in any direction. A purposeless, dreamy, 
effortless life is, of course, a dead failure. 

- A life full of purpose and activity may be a failure, because 
its direction has been towards worthless or unworthy ends. 
The ends and aims of the Christian life are the most worthy 
and important known, even to the infinite and eternal mind. 
To fail here, is to render existence itself a failure ; and we do 


fail so far forth as we come short of our available privileges , 


and advantages. 

Not a few fail totally, because their so-called religious life 
is void of holy purpose, aim, and activity. Others, with the 
Jew, ‘‘follow after the law of righteousness,” without ‘ at- 
taining to the law of righteousness,” 
activity is self-originated, and void of faith as its central prin- 
ciple. Others still have in reality holy purposes and aims, 
and their lives take on some forms of real Christian activity, 
They have, also, a form of saving faith. Their lives, however, 
are comparative failures, because that, on account of false 
methods of righteousness, they live far below their available 
advantages and privileges, and never possess or exercise “the 
power with God and with men,” which is divinely given them 
to possess and exercise. i 


and that because their’ 


Te Sita, that 


SO eo ee ee a rn eee 


BAPTISM OF TUE HOLY GHOST. 15 


Let us for amoment turn our attention to the twelve indi- 
viduals whom Paul met at Ephesus — individuals who had be- 
lieved, but who had not “ received the Holy Ghost since they 
believed.” Suppose, now, that for want of better instruction 
they had continued on till death in the same state in which 
they thenwere. They might have been saved at last. Their 
Christian lives, however, would have been a melancholy fail- 
ure, as compared with what they did become after ‘‘the Holy 
Ghost came upon them.” i 

‘When Apollos first came to Ephesus, he was “‘ mighty in the 
Scriptures,” was ‘instructed in the way of the Lord,” was “ fer- 
vent in spirit,” and “taught diligently the way of the Lord.” 
Like the twelve above referred to, however, “‘he knew only 
the baptism of John,” and as a consequence “had not re- 
ceived the Holy Ghost since he believed.” If no one had 
“expounded to him the way of God more perfectly,” he 
would have continued on as before — would have been saved 
himself, and done some good. Even his life would, in that 
case, have been in important respects a vast failure, as com- 
pared with what it did become after he was thus instructed. 

Reader, shall your life in Christ be, in any form, a failure ? 
To prevent this sad catastrophe, to “teach you the way of 
God more perfectly,” if you do not now know it, and to in- 
sure to you a divine life, of which God shall not be ashamed, 
is the end for which this treatise has been prepared. 


TWO FORMS OF DOCTRINE IN RESPECT TO “‘THE PROMISE OF 
THE SPIRIT.” 


In no era of Church history, since the primitive age passed 
away, has the mission and “ promise of the Spirit” occupied 
so much attention among all classes of believers as now. 
Two distinct and opposite forms of instruction upon this 
subject are being distinctly set forth before the churches. 


16 BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GIOST. 


According to one, ‘‘the promise of the Spirit” is always 
fulfilled at the moment of conversion. What is subsequently 
to be expected is merely a continuation and gradual increase of 
what was then conferred. 

According to the other view, “the Spirit falls upon,” 
“comes upon,” believers, and ‘“ the sealing and earnest of the 
Spirit” are given, not in conversion, but “after we have 
believed.” The Spirit, first of all, induces in the sinner 
“repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus 
Christ.” ‘After he has believed,” that is, after conversion, 
“the Holy Ghost comes upon,” “falls upon,” and is “ poured 
out upon hini,” and thus “endues him with power from on 
high” for his life mission and work. In this baptism of 
power, this ‘sealing and earnest of the Spirit,” which is 
always given, not in conversion, but ‘‘after we have believed,” 
“‘the promise of the Spirit” is fulfilled. 


THE TRUE DOCTRINE VERIFIED. 


It seems undeniable, that if this last is not, and the former 
is, the correct view, inspired men must have fundamentally 
erred upon this subject. With them, it is undeniable 
that conversion was not fprimd-facie evidence that the 
convert had received ‘‘the sealing and earnest of the 
Spirit.” .Hence the question which they everywhere put 
to converts, to wit: ‘Have ye received the Holy Ghost 
since ye believed?” The Apostles did not deny or depre- 
ciate the importance or necessity of the Spirit’s influences in 
conviction, conversion, and the whole work of justification. 
Nor would we, by any means, be supposed to entertain such 
an error. ‘The Spirit, as his mission is revealed in the Scrip- 
tures, is in the world to “convince of sin, of righteousness, 
and of judgment,” to induce “repentance toward God, and 
faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ,” and thus perfect the work 


ee es ee ee, 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GIOST. 17 


of justification.’ Nor does the Spirit leave the convert when 
this necessary work is accomplished, but is ever present, pre- 
paring the heart for the promised baptism, which is to be 
received ‘‘ after we have believed.” 

Conviction, conversion, and justification, and the Spirit's 
influences in inducing the same, are necessary pre-requisites 
for this great consummation. When the sacred writers employ 
such terms and phrases as the following: “The Holy Ghost 
was not yet given,” “The Holy Ghost had not fallen upon 
any of them,” “The promise of the Spirit,” “ The sealing and 
earnest of the Spirit,” ‘“‘Have ye received the Holy Ghost 
since ye believed,” and “Baptized with the Holy Ghost,” they 
referred to the promised baptism of the Spirit, by which we 
are “endued with power from on high,” “after we have 
believed.” As “the promise of the Spirit” awaits the be- 
liever after conversion, the Apostles did not regard the fact 
of conversion as certain proof that the convert had “received 
the Holy Ghost.” 

The fact stands recorded, that many individuals were truly 
converted in Samaria under the preaching of Philip, and that 
upon not one of them “had the Holy Ghost fallen” when 
Peter and John first appeared among them. There were 
many holy men and holy women among the followers of 
Christ prior to his crucifixion. The Holy Ghost, as promised 
in the New Testament, however, was not given, as we are 
absolutely informed, until after “ Jesus was glorified.” The 
New Testament saints, or the Scriptures have been broken, 
were “sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise” “ after they 
believed,” and not when they were converted. ‘This is suffi- 
cient for the present, as the whole subject will be fully eluci- 
dated in subsequent discourses. 


18 BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 


A WORD TO PASTORS AND TEACHERS. 


Those of us who sustain the sacred relations of pastors, and 
spiritual and theological teachers, have received a special com- 
mission to ‘feed the Church of God, which he hath purchased 
with his own blood.” This commission is rendered specially 
sacred by the fact, that of this flock ‘the Holy Ghost has 
made us overseers.” When we come to this blood-bought 
flock, what direction shall our teachings take upon the subject 
under consideration? If there is any subject that we need 
to understand, it is this. If there is any subject on which we 
should borrow our light from “ the-sure word of prophecy,” and 
on which our instructions should absolutely accord with that 

word, it is this. On no subject is wrong instruction more 
certain to render the religious life a failure. 

If “the promise of the Spirit” is fulfilled in conversion, 
and we teach that “the baptism,” ‘the sealing,” and ‘the 
earnest of the Spirit” are to be sought and received “after 
we have believed, ” then we induce believers to fix their hearts 
upon what they are never to find. 

If, on the other hand, believers, if they ‘“‘receive the Holy 
Ghost” at all, as promised, are to be “ endued with power 
from on high,” not in conversion, but ‘after they have be- 
lieved,” and we impress upon their minds the opposite view,,. 
then we impart a life-long misdirection to their seekings, 
prayers, and activities. We send them in the direction of 
darkness, instead of “‘ marvellous light ;” of weakness, instead 
of strength; of doubt, instead of ‘full assurance of hope ;” 
of emptiness, instead of the “fulness of God ;” and of “ the 
bondage of corruption,” instead of “the glorious liberty of 
the sons of God.” Will you not attend us in a careful in- 
vestigation of this great theme? If we go wrong, will you 
not expose the error? © If we shall speak ‘the words of truth 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 19 


and soberness,” will you not hold up the light before ‘the 
Church of God” ? 


A WORD TO THE READER. 


Reader, the subject before us is not one of mere specula- 
tive interest. It is, on the other hand, one of vital importance 
relatively to the life of God in your soul. If, when you close 
this book, you do not find yourself nearer to God than you 
now are, if you do not find yourself in full ‘fellowship with the 
Father and with his Son Jesus Christ,” and if “your joy shall 
be full,” or you shall not be immutably purposed to “ seek 
with all your heart and with all your soul,” until you find 
this infinite good; then so far we have written, and you have 
read, in vain. ‘ 

If you have not “received the Holy Ghost since you 
believed,” you need to know certainly whether there is not 
in reserve for you “some better thing” than you have yet 
obtained. Will you not read this treatise, with the fixed 
purpose to know, if possible, the truth upon this whole subject, 
and if you find the light, to follow it, until youare “ filled with 
all the fulness of God” ? 


20 BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 


DISCOURSE IL. 


EXPERIENCE AND TEACHINGS OF OUR SAVIOUR IN 
RESPECT TO THE BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 


JouN iti. 34 — ‘‘ For He whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God; for God 
giveth not the Spirit by measure ynto him.” 


THE doctrine ‘‘ of God manifest in the flesh ” is a profound 
mystery, and will no doubt be such to human and angelic 
minds to eternity. There are certain facts connected with 
this subject, however — facts clearly ascertainable by us, be- 
cause we know them on the authority of inspiration. When 
Christ, for example, voluntarily “took upon himself the form 
of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men,” he sub- 
jected himself, physically, at least, to human conditions of 
growth and development. Hunger and thirst oppressed, and 
labor and travel wearied Aim, as they do ws; and he had the 
same need of sleep and rest that we have. 

If we will push our inquiries still farther, and that without 
attempting to be “‘ wise above what is written,” we shall find, 
we judge, that mental and spiritual development and mani- 
festation, in him, were subject to similar conditions as in us. 
Of one fact we are absolutely assured, “‘ He was in ALL points 
tempted like as we are.” Hemust have been tempted, there- 
fore, within himself, from physical and mental propensities, and 
from without, through worldly and Satanic influences. The 
difference between us and him lies here: ‘He was tempted 
in all points like as we are, yet without sin ;” we have sinned, 
through temptation. 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 21 


If Christ was: “tempted /éke as we are,” he had to war 
against and overcome temptations as we do, when we main- 
tain our integrity ; and as he himself informs us, his victory in 
the hour of trial was obtained upon the same conditions on 
which ours must be obtained. He “lived by the Father,” 
just as the believer lives by him. His spiritual life was con- 
ditioned upon the indwelling of the Father in him, just as 
our spiritual life is conditioned upon Ch.ist’s living in us. 
He overcame temptation through absolute respect for “ what 
is written,” just as we must overcome “through the blood of 
the Lamb and the worp of his testimony.” Were this not 
the case, his example would be of no avail to us in the matter 
of “life and godliness.” Christ, by his example, has taught 
us not only what kind of lives we must live, but fow to 
‘walk even as he walked.” 

In Christ were two forms of manifestation equally conspic- 
uous, to wit: Deity “in the brightness of his glory,” and “ the 
express image of his substance ;” and humanity in absolute 
beauty and perfection. In the former relation, he is “the 
Lord our righteousness.” In the latter, he is our divine-hu- 
man exemplar, teaching us not only what we shall do and be- 
come, but 4ow to do and become all that is required of us. 


CHRIST'S RELATIONS TO THE HOLY SPIRIT. 


So far all is plain, and within the circle of clear light from 
«the oracles of God.” A new question here arises — a ques- 
tion which, to our knowledge, has not been put before. The 
question is this: Didthe development or manifestation of 
the spiritual life in Christ depend upon the indwelling, and 
influence, and baptism of the Holy Spint, the same in all 
essential particulars as in us? Did he seek and secure this 
divine anointing as the necessary condition and means of 
his “finishing the work which the Father had given him to 


22 BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 


do” —just as we are necessitated to seek and secure the 
same “‘enduement of power from on high,” as the immutable - 
means and condition of our finishing the work which Christ 
has given us to do? 

A recurrence to prophecy furnishes us a definite answer to 
all such questions : “‘ And there shall come forth a rod out 
of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his 
roots, and the Spirit of the Lord shall be upon him, the spirit 
of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, 
the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord; and shall 
make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord.” 
Isa. xi. 1-3. Here we are positively taught that the divine 
manifestations which shone through Christ were the result of 
the power of the Spirit which rested upon him. 

The same truth is taught in Isa. xli. 1: “Behold my 
servant, whom I uphold! mine elect, in whom my soul 
delighteth ; I have put my Spirit upon him; he shall bring 
forth judgment to the Gentiles.” In Isa. lxi. 1, Christ thus 
speaks of himself in the first person: “ The Spirit of the Lord 
God is upon me; because he hath anointed me to preach 
good tidings unto the meek, he hath sent me to bind up the 
broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captvies, and the 
opening of the prison to them that are bound.” ‘The fact that 
Christ was thus baptized of the Spirit implies that he needed 
that baptism, and that without it, in the relations in which 
he then was, he could not have “ finished the work which the 
Father had given him to do.” In seeking, and obtaining, and 
acting under that baptism, Christ is our exemplar in respect 
to the spiritual and divine life which is required of us. 

We find the same truth set forth with equal clearness in the 
New Testament. In John iii. 34, we are told, for example, 
that the reason why Christ spake as he did, and waz he did, 
was owing to the measureless effusion and power of the 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 2S 


Spirit which was vouchsafed to him: “For He whom God 
hath sent speaketh the words of God; for God giveth not the 
Spirit by measure unto him.” God, we repeat, does not be- 
stow gifts nor influences where and when they are not needed. 
Christ received this measureless effusion of the Spirit at the 
beginning and during the progress of his mission, because 
they were a necessity to him—just as similar baptisms are 
a necessity to us in our life mission. 

We here have, no doubt, one reason for the fact, that our 
Saviour spent so much time alone with God and in prayer to 
Him. Christ teaches us that God gives the Holy Spirit to 
those who seek, and ask, and knock at the door of mercy for 
this anointing. In this respect, also, God has made Christ 
our exemplar, giving the Spirit to him when he consciously 
needed his special divine influence and sought for it, just as 
he gives us the Spirit as we consciously need and seek his 
anointing. 

Not to be misled here, we must carefully distinguish between 
the state of Christ when, as the eternal Word, he dwelt with 
the Father, and when, as the same Word, he ‘‘ was made flesh 
and dwelt among us.” In the former state, he had infinite 
all-sufficiency in himself; in the latter, he ‘‘ was in all respects 
made like unto his brethren,” and had the same need of the 
baptism of the Spirit that we have, and obtained “power 
from on high” on the same conditions on which the same 
blessing 1s promised to us. 


RELATIONS OF HIS PUBLIC MINISTRY TO THE SPIRIT. 


_ We now turn to the recorded facts of the public life of our 
Saviour — facts which bear upon our present inquiries. At 
the time of his baptism by John, the Spirit, we read, descended 
upon him in answer to special prayer on his part: ‘ Jesus 
also being baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened, and 


c 


94 BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 


the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon 
him.” This was his first special baptism. : 

At the close of the temptation in the wilderness, after Satan 
had fled discomfited from his presence, and angels had de- 
scended and ministered unto him, the final and great baptism 
appears to have been given, and ‘“ Jesus returned in the power 
~ of the Spirit into Galilee.” The power which attended his 
preaching under this special divine influence is thus presented 
by the sacred historian: “ And there went out a fame of him 
through all the region round about. And he taught in their 
synagogues, being glorified of all.” But the effect of this 
baptism is still more manifest in the account, which follows, 
of his visit to Nazareth. We give the account in full : 

‘And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up ; 
and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the 
Sabbath day, and stood up for to read. And there was de- 
livered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when 
he had opened the book, he found the place where it was 
- written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath 
anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor ; he hath sent 
me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the 
captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty 
them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the 
Lord. And he closed the book, and gave it again to the min- 
ister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in 
the synagogue were fastened on him. And he began to say 
unto them, This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears. 
And all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words 
which proceeded out of his mouth.” 

Our Saviour was here among the people, who had known 
him from childhood up, and he took no part in their worship 
but what he had long been accustomed to do. Nor does it 
seem that his prior reading or discourses had been marked 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 95 


by peculiarities which excited very special observation, much 
less the envy of any. But now there was a mysterious some- 
thing about even his reading, which fixed the eyes of all pres- 
ent upon him. But their surprise and wonder reached their 
consummation when they listened to “the gracious words 
which proceeded out of his mouth.” 

In his intellectual, moral, and spiritual manifestations he stood 
before them as completely transformed as he was physically 
to the eyes of the disciples on the Mount of Transfiguration. 
Now this wonderful transformation Christ attributes, in fact 
and form, to the baptism of the Spirit which he had just be- 
fore received. One of the main objects of reading that pas- 
sage unquestionably was, to explain to that people the cause 
of that transformation — a transformation so great as to excite 
their envy. We are in nodanger of being misunderstocd here. 
The life and character of our Saviour, prior to that event, 
were as absolutely pure as now. He was no less then, than 
now, “God manifest in the flesh.” Yet he had, through that 
baptism of love, knowledge, and power, ascended from forms 
of perfect human and perfect divine manifestations, to others 
far higher and more impressive. 

The great truth which we would impress upon all minds 
through this revealed fact is this: If Christ, the pure and 
spotless One, Christ the Eternal Word, was thus transformed, 
through “the baptism of the Holy Ghost,” what must be the 
transformation in believers, when they shall, for their life work, 
“be endued with power from on high.” This is the transfor- 
mation which Christ is ready to induce in all his people. . 
“He shall baptize you,” says John Baptist, “with the Holy 
Ghost.” On another occasion, when John saw Jesus coming 
unto him, he gave utterance to these memorable words : ‘“ Be- 
hold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the 
world! This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man 

2 


26. BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 


which is preferred before me; for he was before me. And I 
knew him not: but that he should be made manifest to Israel, 
therefore am I come baptizing with water. And John bear 
record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a 
dove, and it abode upon him, and I knew him not ; but he 
that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me: 
Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remain- 
ing on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy 
Ghost. And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of 
God.” 

We, then, are to look to Christ for the gift of the Spirit, just 
as he looked to the Father for the same baptism of power. As 
Christ spent forty days and forty nights in fasting and prayer, 
preparatory to the reception of a full and final baptism, we 
should not think it strange if a considerable time should pass 
before such preparation in us is consummated. 

Let this truth, however, be omnipresent in our minds. The 
power of the Spirit was a necessity, even to Christ, for the 
full accomplishment of his life mission. How much more so 
to us, if we would accomplish our life work. Christ would 
not enter upon his mission, until he could “go forth in the 
power of the Spirit.” What infinite presumption in us, to 
enter upon ours, without tarrying before God, ‘“ until we be 
endued with power from on high.” 


WHAT CHRIST SAID AND TAUGHT ON THIS SUBJECT. 


We have now arrived to the main object of the present dis- 
course, to wit: what Christ himself said and taught in regard 
to the Holy Spirit and his mission. On this department of 
our subject we would present the following facts and consid- 
erations : 

1. He taught expressly, that a// believers may seek and 
obtain this unspeakable gift, and upon the same conditions on 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. oT 


which, as we have seen, he obtained it. In Luke xi. 4-13, we 
have specific instructions on this subject. Read the whole 
passage: ‘And I say unto you, ask, and it shall be given 
you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened 
unto you. For every one that asketh, receiveth ; and he that 
seeketh, findeth ; and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened. 
If a son ask bread of any of you that isa father, will-he give 
him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a 
serpent ? or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scor- 
pion? If ye, then, being evil, know how to give good gifts 
unto your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father 
give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him!” 

All, then, are without excuse who go forth to the mission of 
life without doing so under “the power-of the Spirit,” as 
Christ went out from the wilderness. The heart of God, only 
in greater strength, is towards us in respect to this gift as the 
parental heart is toward the child in respect to needed food : 
’ “How much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy 
Spirit to them that ask him !” 

2. The Holy Spirit, when given and not subsequently 
grieved nor quenched, remains with us, not as a mere divine 
influence, but as an abiding personal presence. Everywhere, 
our Saviour speaks of the Spirit, not as an influence, but as a 
person. As a person, he is sent, comes, speaks, teaches, 
shows things to the mind, and abides with believers, as Christ 
“dwelt among us.” He requires the ordinance of baptism to 
be administered in “the name of the Father, and of the Son, 
and of the Holy Ghost.” No such language is applicable to ~ 
mere influence in any form. 

The Spirit, also, when he comes to us, comes to abide with 
us as a permanent personal presence. Christ “came forth 
from the Father,” came into the world, and “dwelt among us” 
for a little season. Thenhe “left the world, and returned to 


28 | BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GIIOSsT. 


the Father.” The Spirit comes to the believer to “ abide with 
him for ever.’ Asa consequence, “all our work should be 
wrought in God,” and all our activities should be under his 
immediate control. “I will pray the Father for you, and the 
shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you 
for ever.” ‘Ye know him, for he dwelleth with you, and shall 
be in you.” 

3. Another truth of infinite moment—a truth taught by our 
Saviour on this subject, is this: The benefits which we may all 
receive through the Spirit dwelling in us are far greater than 
his disciples did derive, or could have derived, from Christ’s 
personal presence, teachings, and influence, when he was upon 
sarth, and himself under “the power of the Spirit.” This we 
could hardly believe but upon the express testimony of our 
Saviour himself. Until after “Christ was glorified,” the Holy 
Ghost could not be given, even to believers. Hence the 
highest good of his disciples demanded that he should return 
to the Father, that the abiding presence of the Spirit might be 
vouchsafed to them: ‘“ Nevertheless I tell you the truth ; it is 
expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the 
Comforter will not come unto you ; but if I depart, I will send 
him unto you.” Christ did not undervalue the light and priv- 
ileges enjoyed by his disciples under his ministrations. On 
this subject he thus speaks: “And he turned him unto his 
disciples, and said privately, Blessed are the eyes which see 
the things that ye see; for I tell you that many prophets and 
kings have desired to see those things which ye see, and have 
not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and 
have not heard them.” But what they thus saw and heard 
was only preparatory for the higher light and glory and 
blessedness, which they were to receive and enjoy, after Christ 
was glorified and the Holy Ghost was given unto them. Of 
the present privileges of all believers in common, our Saviour 


0 ee ee, ee ae) a 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 99 


thus speaks: “He that believeth on me, as the Scripture 
hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.” 
‘But this,” the apostle adds, “‘he spake of the Spirit, which 
they that believe on him should receive ; for the Holy Ghost 
was not yet given, because that Jesus was not yet glorified.” 

None, we are taught here, could have had this blessedness 
consummated in their experience before ‘“‘ Jesus was glorified.” 
All believers may possess it now, because “the Holy Ghost 
has been given.” No prophet, or king, or disciple ever did 
enjoy, or could have enjoyed, the light, privileges, and blessed- 
ness, prior to the time when the Holy Ghost was given, which 
all believers may now enjoy under the power of the Spirit. 

Such are the express teachings of our Saviour upon this sub- 
ject. According to the equally express teachings of proph- 
ecy also, “he that is feeble among you at that day shall be as 
David, while the house of David shall be as God, as the angel 
of the Lord before him.” Those things, also, after which ‘the 
prophets inquired and searched diligently,” were not the say- 
ings or works of our Saviour, prior to his crucifixion, but “ the 
sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow,” — follow 
‘after the Holy Ghost was given.” ‘The most important ut- 
terances of our Saviour were like enigmas, even to the disciples, 
until after ‘the Spirit took of the things of Christ, and showed 
them unto them.” 

4. The special mission of the Spirit, as revealed by our 
Saviour himself, next claims our attention. His mission is set 
forth in such words as the following: ‘“ He shall teach you all 
things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever 
I have said unto you ;” ‘‘ He shall glorify me ; for he shall re- 
ceive of mine, and shall show it unto you;” “He will guide 
you into all truth;” “He shall testify of me;” “I by the 
Spirit will show you plainly of the Father ;” ‘‘ He will reprove 
the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment ;” ‘‘ He 


30 BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GIIOST. 


shall not speak of himself, but whatsoever he shall hear, that 
shall he speak; and he will show you things to come ;” 
«And they shall all be taught of God.” 

The mission of the Spirit, then, is to put the mind in full 
possession of that “ eternal life,” which consists in “ knowing 
the only living and true God, and Jesus Christ whom he hath 
sent’? —in possession of all truth in all its forms, — all truth 
“necessary to life and godliness.” It is one thing to 
study the word of God, with all human helps — and this is a 
great privilege, of which every believer should desire to avail 
himself; it is quite another thing to have, in addition to all 
this, the Spirit of God, first to strengthen ‘in the inner man,” 
and then to open upon our vision God’s truth, especially ‘the 
image of the glory of God in the face of Jésus Christ.” “The 
Church, under the power of the Spirit, is “the light of the 
world.” While the Church is laboring for the salvation of the 
race, the Spirit is in the world to convict of sin, and lead men 
to Christ. After they have repented and believed in Christ, 
he then sends the Comforter, to enlighten, teach, help, guide, 
and dwell with them forever. 

Prior to conversion, the Spirit comes to men without being 
sought, and convinces them of sin, even against their will. 
After repentance and faith in Christ, believers receive “‘ power 
from on high,” “the power of the Spirit,” by asking, seeking, 
knocking, and waiting for his coming upon them, as the disci- 
ples did at the Pentecost, and as Christ did in the wilderness 
and in mountain solitudes. Christ atones for sin, makes full 
provision for the full salvation of all believers, and teaches the 
truth of God and the way of life. 

The Spirit in Christ, in the prophets and aposiles, gives us 
the whole circle and volume of revealed truth. ‘The Spirit in 
the world acts as a convicting and persuading power to lead 
men to Christ. ‘The Spirit in the Church abides in the hearts 


BAPTISM OF TIE HOLY GHOST. on 


of all believers who seek and obtain his transforming power, 
as an indwelling, all-illuminating and personal presence, through 
which we apprehend, as in the light of God, the things of 
Christ, and all truth requisite “to life and godliness,” through 
which, as stated by the apostle, “‘we behold with open face the 
glory of God,” are “ changed into the same image from glory 
to glory,” and “are filled with all the fulness of God.” Such 
is the mission of the Spirit, as set forth by our Saviour himself. 

8. What has Christ authorized us to expect, through the 
abiding presence and power of the Spirit? This is the ques- 
tion which should next engage our attention. We have al- 
ready spoken of the forms of divine illumination promised by 
our Saviour, and which are to be received through the Spirit. 

Let us now contemplate other forms of blessedness, which 
are pledged to us, and which are to descend to us under his 
ministration: “And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. 
Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the 
Father in my name, he will give it you. Hitherto ye have 
asked nothing in my name: askand receive, that your joy may 
be full.” ‘At that day ye shall know that I amin my Father, 
and ye in me, and I in you. He that hath my command- 
ments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me ; and he that 
loveth me shall be loved by my Father, and I will love him, 
and will manifest myself to him. Judas, not Iscariot, saith to 
him, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself to us, and 
not to the world? Jesus answered and said to him, If a man © 
loveth me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love 
him, and we will come to him,and make our abode with 
him.” | 

All this is spoken with direct reference to the results which 
were to attend the mission of the Spirit. After speaking 
of the illumination which believers are to receive under the 
teachings of the Spirit, our Saviour thus speaks of their bless- 


32 BAPTISM OF. THE HOLY GHOST. 


edness through the Spirit’s indwelling presence: “ Peace I 
leave with you, my peace [the peace which I myself enjoy] I 
give unto you.” In his intercessory prayer, he thus speaks 
upon the same subject: “And now come I to thee; and 
these things I speak in the world, that they might have my 
joy fulfilled in themselves.” Again he adds, ‘ And the glory 
which thou hast given me, I have given them; that they may 
be one, even as we are one. I in them and thou in me, that 
they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may 
know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou 
hast loved me.” 

The power of the gospel on the Church, when her member- 
ship go forth “under the power of the Spint,’ our Saviour 
thus represents: ‘‘ Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that be- 
lieveth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and 
greater works than these shall he do: because I go unto my 
Father.” The Saviour is not here speaking of his miraculous 
deeds, but of the power of the gospel under his immediate 
ministration, as compared with the glory which was. to follow 
his sufferings, and follow through the agency of believers when 
under ‘the power of the Spirit.” 

Of two individuals aiming at the same general results, one 
may move in a far wider sphere, and may touch a far greater 
number of minds, and, in this sense, exert a far greater in- 
fluence than the other; while the influence of the latter 
within his narrow sphere may be in itself more efficient than 
that of the former. This is the great truth set before us in 
this memorable utterance of Christ. Each believer, the least 
as well as the greatest, has received from Christ a life mission 
and work, the same in kind as Christ received from the 
Father, and has, under the power of the Spirit, an influence 
in itself more efficient than Christ wielded during his public 
ministry. The following, then, are some of the forms of 


= 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 5d 


blessedness which Christ has absolutely promised to us, pro- 
vided we receive the Holy Ghost after we believe: 

1. Not only a perfect union with him, and with the Father 
in him, ‘‘ the Father in him, and he in us, and we in him;” 
but we are to £zow that this union between us and the adora- 
ble Trinity does exist. 

2. Not only is the Spirit to ‘abide with us forever,” but 
Christ and the Father will “ come to us and make their abode 
with us;” ‘our fellowship,” in the language of the apostle 
John, ‘being with the Father, and with his Son Jesus 
Christ.” 

3. We are to enjoy the same free access to the throne of 
grace, and have the same power in prayer, in our life mission 
and work, that Christ possessed while prosecuting his mis- 
sion and work — we ‘‘asking in his name,” and asking and 
receiving until ‘our joy,” as his was, ‘1s full.” 

4. Under the power of the Spirit we are to “bring forth 
much fruit” to the glory of God, and to the honor of Him” 
that ‘loved us, and gave himself for us,’”’ and thus to share in 
full measure the glory which the Father has given to Christ. 

5. In the prosecution of our hfe mission and work, we, 
abiding and walking in the Spirit, are to be possessed of a 
full fruition of that peace in God, and fulness of joy, which 
Christ himself possessed, while “ finishing the work which the 
Father had given him to do.” We should not dare to utter 
such thoughts, did not the express words of Christ to that 
effect, and far more, lie out in distinct visibility before our 
minds. 


THE PLAN OF CHRIST IN REGARD TO THE AGENCY OF THE 
CHURCH. 


We notice, in the next place, the plan of our Saviour, as far 


as the agency of the Church is concerned in the work, for the 
Q* 


ot BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 


saving of lost men, and bringing the world back to God. 
This plan may be thus stated : 

1. To organize the entire membership into one divinely 
anointed sacramental.host, all of whom, in their individual 
and social relations, are to labor with supreme devotion for 
this great end. 

2. To impart to each and every one, through the Spirit, 
such a full and special baptism of power, as will perfectly 
qualify for, and adapt him to, the peculiar and special mission 
and work appointed him. Each individual is to be so “en- 
dued with power from on high,” and so ‘filled with all the 
fulness of God,” that there shall not be ‘‘a sickly or feeble 
one in all that host ;” “the feeble among them being as David, 
and the house of David” (the leaders under the Great Cap- 
tain of our salvation), ‘‘as the Lord, as the angel of the Lord 
before him.” 

3. Through the abiding presence of the Spirit, and through 
him of Christ and the Father in each. heart, there shall ob- 
tain such a visible unity of spirit, purpose, and mutual love 
among all the sanctified family, that the world shall believe 
in the divinity of our Saviour’s mission. 

4. To secure in all, in common, such peace, quietude, as- 
surance, and fulness of joy, that “ the Gentiles shall come to 
the light of the Church, and kings to the brightness of her 
rising.” 


WHAT CHRIST HAS DONE TO CONSUMMATE THIS PLAN. 

Such is the plan, as no one will deny. What did Christ do 
and teach to render this plan real in the experience of the 
Church? In his relations as our atoning God and Saviour, 


he has made full provision for the complete sanctification, 


adequacy for every good word and work, and fulness of joy, 
of every believer. He has purchased for all, in common, 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 35 


“the promise of the Spirit,” through whom God can do for.us 
all “exceeding abundantly, above all that we can ask or 
think.” 

He has, by his own example, shown us how we may obtain 
the “sealing and earnest of the Spirit,” and how we must live 
and act, when we go forth to our life-work under his power. 
He has said everything that could have been said to induce 
in us, first of all, supreme consecration to our life work, and 
then a waiting upon God, as Christ waited before the Father, 
for that “enduement of power from on high,” which is the 
immutable condition of our accomplishing our divinely ap- 
pointed mission. Among his earliest instructions we are 
absolutely assured of God's willingness and desire to bestow 
upon us this anointing when we seek and pray for it as re- 
quired. Then we are assured that when this baptism shall 
come upon us, “the days of our mourning shall be ended,” 
that “out of our belly shall flow rivers of living water.” 

Then, as the time of his departure approached, his last dis- 
course and prayer with his disciples seems to have but one 
leading end and aim, to wit : to prepare their hearts for the re- 
ception of the Comforter, and to fix their desires and expecta- 
tions upon “the glory which was to follow his sufferings.” 

On his first meeting with them after his resurrection, his 
first act, after his peace salutation, was to breath upon them, 
saying, ‘Receive ye the Holy Ghost.” After being seen of 
them forty days, and speaking to them of the things pertain- 
ing to the “ kingdom of God,” after admonishing them not to 
“depart from Jerusalem, but wait the promise of the Father,” 
and assuring them that they should “be baptized with the 
Holy Ghost not many days hence,” he finally led them out of 
the city as far as Bethany. There having delivered to them 
their final commission, ‘ Go ye into all the world, and preach 
the gospel to every creature,” and this last command, ‘ But 


36 BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 


tarry ye in Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on 
high,” he “lifted up his hands and blessed them,” and then as- 
cended upward, and took his place at ‘‘the right hand of God,” 
‘leading captivity captive, and giving gifts unto men.” 

Now reader, from beneath those sacred hands, uplifted to 
bless us as well as them, those never-to-be-forgotten words, 
“Go,” but “ Tarry,” come directly and personally to you and 
tome. Eternity is lost to us, if we go not as bidden; and 
barrenness and spiritual blight will rest upon us, if we tarry 
not as required. But the light of God shall attend us, and 
glory infinite shall encircle us at last, if we do go forth as bid- 
den on the one hand, and tarry as required on the other. 


ONE WORD OF CAUTION AND ADMONITION, 


Reader, if you are now far from God, and cold and dead 
in your religious affections, heed not the counsels of those 
who advise you to go forth at once, and engage in the work 
of saving souls, and thus “warm yourself into spiritual life.” 
The warmth thus generated will be from fire of your own kind- 
ling. As the result, you will, after a few heartless efforts, ‘lie 
down in sorrow.” Repent, on the other hand, of your sin, and 
especially of your broken vows, and tarry in deep humiliation 
and fervent prayer before God, until he shall “restore to you 
the joy of his salvation, and uphold you by his free Spirit.” 
Then, under the “power of the Spirit,” go forth to your life 
work, and your “labor will not be in vain in the Lord.” 
You will now “teach transgressors God’s ways, and sinners 
shall be converted unto him.” What has a dead backslider 
to do, to “declare God’s counsels” ? 


7 
MEE once 
bo bg ee ee 


3 oo ey: 
Sa ee wee Te 


E 
a 
. 

“a 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 37 


DISCOURSE JIL 


DOCTRINE OF THE BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST 
EXPLAINED AND ELUCIDATED. 


Acts xix. 2: ‘“‘He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye be- 
lieved?” 


TuE views presented in the two preceding chapters have 
prepared the way for a full exposition and elucidation of the 
Doctrine of the Baptism of the Holy Ghost, as set forth in 
the New Testament. 

In accomplishing this object, we will first of all present and 
explain the various passages of Scripture in which this doctrine 
is clearly set forth, and will then give the various results of the 
expositions. 


THE SPIRIT, WHEN GIVEN, AND ON WHAT CONDITIONS. 


The first passage to which we refer is Acts xix. 1-6: “ And it 
came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul, hav- 
ing passed through the upper coasts, came to Ephesus; and 
finding certain disciples, he said unto them, Have ye received 
the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, 
We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy 
Ghost. And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye 
baptized? And they said, Unto John’s baptism. Then said 
Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, 
saying unto the people that they should believe on Him which 
should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. When they 


38 BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 


heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 
And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost 
came on them ; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied.” 
This passage rae several truths of fundamental pan 
ance in respect to this subject. 

We learn, 1. That the gift of the Spirit was not expected 
in, but after conversion: ‘“‘ Have ye received the Holy Ghost 
since ye believed?” The same fact is referred toand affirmed, 
Eph. i. 13: “In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard 
the word of truth, the gospel of our salvation ; in whom also, 
after that ye believed ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of 
promise.” 

2. We are here taught also, that, in the judgment of inspired 
men, believers are not fully qualified for their sphere of Chris- 
tian activity until this baptism is received. 

The men whom Paul met he distinctly recognized as Chris 
tians, but as yet in total want of the proper qualifications fo) 
Christian activity, unless they had been ‘ endued with’ powe: 
from on high,” through this divine baptism. 

The same, we elsewhere learn, was the common sentiment 
of all the Apostles. We have an exhibition of the existence 
and strength of this sentiment in Acts vil, 14-17: ‘* Now when 
the Apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had 
received the Word of God, they sent unto them Peter and 
John: who, when they were come down, prayed for them, 
that they might receive the Holy Ghost: for as yet he’ was 
fallen upon none of them; only they were baptized in the 
name of the Lord Jesus. Then laid they their hands on them, 
and they received the Holy Ghost.” As soon as individuals 
believed, the great concern was, that they should then be 
“sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.” 

3. We learn from this passage also, as well as from others, 
that when believers do receive this divine baptism, they do 


: 
| 

{ 

a 
Reet 
Zi 
am 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GIST. oo 


enter at once upon forms of activity and usefulness otherwise 
impossible to them. It was so with the twelve individuals re- 
ferred to, and with the Apostles and their associates at the 
Pentecost, with Apollos after he was instructed by Priscilla 
and Aquilla, and in all other cases. 

4. We learn also, that where the Holy Ghost is received, 
such a change is wrought in the subject that he himself will 
become distinctly conscious of the change, and of the cause 
of the same — a change observable also to others around. The 
question put by the Apostle implies that it is a question that 
all are able to answer. The same change becomes also, with 
equal distinctness, visible to all observers. ‘The transforma- 
tion effected in believers in Samaria was manifest even to Si- 
mon the Sorcerer. 

The change induced in the Apostles and their associates at 
the Pentecost became manifest at once not only to the in- 
habitants of Jerusalem, but to the multitudes assembled there 
from all surrounding nations. The new forms of life and ac- 
tivity induced among believers assembled at the house of 
Cornelius, became at once manifest to Peter and his associ- 
ates from Joppa. Acts x. 44-47: ‘‘ While Peter yet spake 
these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the 
- word. And they of the circumcision which believed were 
astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the 
Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost, for 
they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God. ‘Then 
answered Peter, Can any man forbid water, that these should 
not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well 
as we P” 3 

The great fact, that the change wrought by the gift of the Spirit 
shall become visible to others, to the world as well as to be- 
lievers, is foreshadowed in prophecy: ‘‘ The Lord shall rise 
upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.” 


40 BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 


5. The gift of the Spirit does not ordinarily come to be- 
lievers unsought or unexpectedly, but where and when they 
are seeking it and waiting for it. We have but one case re- 
corded in the New Testament in which this blessing came 
when not definitely sought. ‘That is the case presented above 
— the case in which the Gentiles first received this ‘‘ unspeak+ 
able gift.” Here it was thus given for reasons that at once 
disappeared. To us, the great fact stands plainly revealed, 
that ‘‘ the sealing and earnest of the Spirit” will not be given 
to us, but upon the condition that we seek it and wait for it, 
as the Apostles and primitive Christians sought and waited for 
it. 


SEALING OF THE SPIRIT. 


Let us now turn our thoughts to a passage already cited, = 
Eph. i. 13: ‘In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the 3 
word of truth, the gospel of your salvation ; in whom, also, 
after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of 
promise.” Here we have the order of facts as developed in 
actual experience —as the hearing, then the believing, then 
finally, after believing, “the sealing with that Holy Spirit of 
promise.” All is plain here but the meaning of the term . 
sealed. Reference is had, in the use of this term, to the final 3 
act of parties rendering permanently valid and mutually obli- 
gatory written covenants, in putting their hand and seal to 
the document. _ 

When the creature believes in Christ, ‘‘ he sets to his seal,” 
we are told, “that God is true.” When God gives his Spirit, 
that is his seal to the fact that the believer has been ‘“ac- 
cepted in the beloved,” and is in covenant relations with “the 
Father of lights.” Until this gift is received, we have no 
token from God that our sins are blotted out, and we his 
sons and daughters. It would evince infinite presumption in ~- | 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. AL 


us to hope in God, and not receive from him, as we may do, 
absolute assurance of the validity of our hope. 


THE EARNEST OF THE SPIRIT. 


We now turn to another very peculiar and special state- 
ment in regard to this gift of God. In 2 Cor. 1. 22, we read 
that God both “seals us, and gives the earzest of the Spirit in 
our hearts.” In Eph. i. 14, we read that in the gift of the 
Spirit we received not only a seal of our title to sonship with 
God, but ‘the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption 
of the purchased possession.” 

The term earnest implies, in our language as well as in the 
original, two ideas —a part of the inheritance given in hand, 
and that as a pledge of an ultimate possession of the 
whole. The part received being the same in kind as the re- 
mainder, puts the recipient in possession of the same blessed- 
ness in kind which he is afterwards to receive in its fulness. 
This, then, is true of all who receive the “ sealing and earnest 
of the Spirit in their hearts.” With them, glory is begun be- 
low. Heaven itself has dawned in their inner life. Of this 
more hereafter. 


FELLOWSHIP OF THE SPIRIT, AND THE RESULTS. 


We now invite very special attention to Eph. 1. 14~21. 
The passage is lengthy. It will repay a careful perusal, how- 
ever, as it throws great light on our present inquiries. “‘ For 
this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus 
Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is 
named, that he would grant you, according to the riches of 
his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the 
inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith ; 
that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to 
comprehend with all saints what is the breadth and length and 


AQ BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 


depth and height; and to know the love of Christ, which 
passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness 
of God. Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abun- 


dantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power 


that worketh in us, unto Him be glory in the church by Christ 
_ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.” 

The reader will notice the various steps or stages of Chris- 
tian experience here presented, and that each is preparatory 
to that which follows next in order, until the whole culminates 
in the soul’s being “ filled with all the fulness of God.” It 
will also be observed that all this fulness results primarily 
from one originating cause —the indwelling of the Spirit in our 
hearts. Let us now contemplate these great central facts of 
the spiritual life, and that in the order here presented. 

1. When we ‘receive the Holy Ghost, after we have be- 
lieved,” the first result is a vast expansion and accumulation 
of intellectual, moral, and spiritual power. Our powers of 
apprehension and comprehension are greatly enlarged. In 
other words, we are ‘“‘strengthened with might by the Spirit in 
the inner man.” We become “strong in the Lord, and in 
the power of his might.” We are able to think, to appre- 
hend and comprehend, to do and to endure, as would other- 
wise be impossible to us. 

2. When our bodies thus become “the temples ‘of the 
Holy Ghost,” and we are ‘builded together for an habita- 
tion of God through the Spirit,” Christ then ‘ dwells in our 
hearts by faith,” and is “in us, the hope of glory.” He and 
the Father ‘‘come to us and make their abode with us,” and 
then ‘truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his 
Son Jesus Christ.” We thus enjoy “the fellowship of the 
Spirit,” and in this divine fellowship we come to know and 
believe the love that God hath to us,” and by this means our 
“love is made perfect,” our characters take form after the di- 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 43 


vine image, and we become “confirmed, settled, and strength- 
ened ;” that is, we become “rooted and grounded in love.” 

3. When thus “walking in the light as God is in the light,” 
“‘ beholding with open face the glory of the Lord,” and having 
“fellowship with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ,” 
we at length attain to “a comprehension of the breadth, and 
length, and depth, and height, and know the love of Christ, 
which passeth knowledge.” We then know by experience 
what our Saviour meant when he said, ‘And this is hfe 
eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and 
Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.” 

4. Asa further result, all our powers, susceptibilities, and 
activities come to be pervaded and filled with “the light of 
God.” Our dwelling-place is now in the centre of an infi- 
nite fulness, where every want is met, where the “effect of 
righteousness is peace, and the fruit of righteousness is quiet- 
ness and assurance forever,” and where “God is our everlast- 
ing light, and the days of our mourning are ended.” In other 
words, we are “filled with all the fulness of God.” 

s. The inspired caution which follows must not be over- 
looked in this connection. When our thoughts, desires, and 
prayers turn towards God, we must never, even in thought, 
“limit the Holy One.” "We must never suppose that the 
fulness of God's grace, and love, and bounty, which he shall 
give, will be measured by what we ‘ask or think.” 

We are to bear in mind, on the other hand, that the meas- 
ure of our real necessities, not as seen by ourselves, but as 
they lie out under the eye of God, is the fulness with which 
God is able to fill us, and which he will confer when we “put — 
our trust in him.” ‘ According to the power” — that is, by - 
means of the power of the Spirit — “that worketh in us,” God 
is “able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or 
think.” This is “the way of holiness,” along which all are 


44 BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 


advancing who ‘“‘receive the Holy Ghost after they have be- 
lieved,” and who do not “grieve” nor “quench the Spirit,” 
but ‘‘ walk in the Spirit.” 


POWER OF THE SPIRIT. 


There are various passages, in addition to the above, which 
speak of the power of the Spirit— passages which demand spe- 
cial notice and elucidation. The Spirit, as imparted to Christ 
is called “ the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit 
of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear 
of the Lord.” Jesus commanded his disciples to ‘“ tarry in 
Jerusalem, until they were endued with power from on high.” 
Again, “ Ye shall receive power, after the Holy Ghost is come 
upon you.” 

‘Through the power of the Holy Ghost” we are “filled 
with all joy and peace in believing,” and ‘abound in hope.” 
Through the power of the Spirit, the truth of God has an all- 
transforming influence over our whole moral and spiritual be- 
ing and character. ‘We all, with open face beholding as in a 


glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image _ 


from glory to glory, even as by the Spinit of the Lord.” 

The Spirit also has absolute control of all the elements of 
moral and spiritual strength, might, and power. He can pu- 
rify and sanctify our emotions and affections, quicken into 
immortal life and vigor our intellectual and executive activi- 
ties, transform character and consolidate virtue, and thus 
render us “strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might,” 
— strong to think, to do, and to endure. More of thisin an- 
other discourse. 


THE WATERS OF LIFE. 


Let us now turn our attention to the memorable utterance 
of our Saviour found in John vii. 38, 39: “He that believeth 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 45 


on me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow 
rivers of living water. But this spake he of the Spint, which 
they that believe on him should receive, for the Holy Ghost. 
was not yet given, because that Jesus was not yet glorified.” 
The following important truths, undeniably revealed in this 
passage, deserve special notice : 

1. The Spirit, with all that shall follow his reception, is here 
‘promised absolutely to every believer to the end of time. 

“If any man thirst,” says Christ, in the verse preceding, 
“let him come unto me, and drink.” “He that believeth on 
me” — that is, every individual that shall believe —‘‘as the © 
scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living 
water.” No promise can be more universal. 

2. The Spirit, as here promised, was given to no believer 
until after Jesus was glorified, and never at that time in con- 
version, but only and exclusively arTER he had believed to 
the saving of his soul. What, then, must we think of a dogma 
which affirms that now the order is reversed ; that “ the seal- 
ing of the Holy Spirit of promise” is always received in con- 
version, and never after we have believed. 

3. Let us now think of the moral and spiritual state ; “the 
everlasting consolations,” the assurances of hope, the im- 
mortal fellowships, and fulness of joy, represented by such 
language as this: “Rivers of living water.” ‘ Whoso- 
ever,” says our Saviour, again, “drinketh of the water that I 
shall give him, shall never thirst ; but the water that I shall 
give him shall be in him a well of water, springing up into 
everlasting life.” All that such language imports becomes | 
real in the experience of every believer who does “ receive 
the Holy Ghost” after he has believed. 

Onno other condition, on the other hand, can such a form of 
life and blessedness become real in the experience of any indi- 
vidual. “But this he spake of the Spirit.” You may possess 


46 BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 


all this, reader, because you may “ be filled with the Spirit,” 
and may ‘‘ walk in the Spirit.” You must possess all this, or 


your Christian life will, in fundamental particulars, be a mel- - 


ancholy failure. a 


DIVERSITY OF SPIRITUAL GIFTS, WHY CONFERRED. 


The object for which the Spirit is given is also specified in the 
New Testament. 1 Cor. xu. 7: ‘But the manifestation of the 
Spirit is given to every man to profit withal ;” thatis, to render 
him efficiently useful as a member of the sanctified family. 
“To one,” we are told, r Cor. xil. 8-11, “‘is given by the Spirit 
the word of wisdom; to another, the word of knowledge 
by the same Spirit; to another, faith by the same Spirit; to 
another, the gifts of healing by the same Spirit ; to another, the 
working of miracles; to another, prophecy ; to another, dis- 
cerning of spirits; to another, divers kinds of tongues ; to 
another, the interpretation of tongues; but all these worketh 
that one and the self-same Spirit, dividing to every man sev- 
erally as he will.” 

All who receive this baptism, we are taught, verse 13, “by 
one Spirit are baptized into one body,” and ‘made to drink 


into one Spirit.” All have not imparted to them the same 
gifts ; but each receives, in connection with what is common: 


to all, special gifts and-influences, which adapt him to his spe- 
cial place as ‘‘a member of the body of Christ.” The spe- 
cial object of the entire chapter before us is to elucidate this 
one truth. 


THE GIFT OF PROPHECY IN THE NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH. 


The spirit of prophecy which attends this baptism requires 
special attention. Acts li. 18: “And on my servants and 
on my handmaidens I will in those days pour out of my Spirit ; 
and they shall prophesy.” Acts xxi. g: ‘“ And the same man 


BAPTISM OF THE IJOLY GHOST. AT 


had four daughters, virgins, which did prophesy.” The spe- 
cial meaning of the term, prophesy, in the New Testament, is 
not to foretell future events, but, as we are informed, 1 Cor. | 
xiv. 3, 4, to utter divine truth under the illumination of the 
Spirit, so as to edify those that hear — the Church especially : 
“ But he that prophesieth, speaketh unto men to edification, 
and exhortation, and comfort. He that speaketh in an un- 
known tongue, edifieth himself. But he that prophesieth, edi- 
fieth the Church.” 

The effect upon worldly minds of the spirit of prophecy in 
the Church is set forth in verses 23, 24 of the same chapter: 
“Tf, therefore, the whole Church be come together into one 
place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those 
that are unlearned, or unbelievers, will they not say that ye 
are mad? But ifall prophesy, and there come in one that be- 
believeth not, or one unlearned, he is convinced of all, he is 
judged of all: so and thus are the secrets of his heart made 
manifest ; and falling down on his face he will worship God, 
and report that God is in you of a truth.” 

This prophetic power, the power of utterance for the edi- 
fication of the Church and the conversion of sinners, is in all 
such passages, and in other scriptures, represented as the 
common privilege of all believers. Let any worldly person 
enter a circle whose hearts are full of the Holy Ghost, and he 
will at once recognize himself as encircled with the light of 
God, and will be impressed with the fact, that the kingdom of 
God has come nigh unto him. When avy one speaks, there 
will be an unction about his utterance, an unction which all 
will recognize as divine. 


THE PENTECOSTAL BAPTISM. 


Another portion of the New Testament, the portion which 
has a fundamental bearing upon our present inquiries, is 


48 .. BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 


the first baptism of the Spirit after “Jesus was glorified ;” 
that which occurred at the Pentecost. A full account of this 
event is given in the first and second chapters of Acts. The 
following facts in this account deserve special attention : 


I. The Preparation. 


The Apostles and their associates, knowing well that the 
promised blessing was about to be conferred, made every 
possible arrangement to receive it; such as the completing 
the required number of special witnesses, the putting of all 
things in order, and the full preparation of their hearts for 
the approaching manifestation. 

Having done all this, they all, in a state of complete self- 
dedication, met together with a perfect unity of aims and ex- 
pectation to receive “the promise of the Father:” ‘ And 
when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were ail with 
one accord in one place.” Here is a revelation to us of the 
spiritual state in which we may expect this divine baptism, to 
wit: when in a state of total consecration to Christ we are 
waiting and praying for it with all our hearts. 

2. We notice, also, the signs which preceded, as distin- 
guished from the baptism itself. First of all, the place was 
shaken as by a mighty rushing wind; then appeared the 
cloven tongues; and lastly, the internal manifestation, when 
all in common “ were filled with the Holy Ghost.” We have, 
we believe, but three instances in which the bestowment of 
this blessing was preceded by external manifestations — the 
anointing of Christ, the case before us, and the rebaptism 
after the release of Peter and John, recorded in Acts iv. 31: 
‘‘ And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where 
they were assembled together; and they were all filled with 
the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with bold- 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 49 


ness.” In all other instances the manifestation was wholly 
internal. | 

3. We notice, again, the sfeczal and the common effects of 
this baptism —the speaking with tongues, and prophesy- 
ing, or the utterance of divine truth under divine influence. 
The former was a miraculous power granted to the few, the 
latter, a special gift granted to a/7 in common. Few spake 
with tongues ; all uttered ‘the wonderful works of God,” 
and ‘‘spoke the word of God with boldness.” 

The universality of the prophetic gift is presented in nearly 
or quite all the varied cases of this baptism. Some spoke 
with tongues; all prophesied, that is, “‘magnified God.” This 
accorded with prophecy and inspired teaching. Acts 1. 18: 
“And on my servants, and on my handmaidens, I will pour 
out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy.” 
When in the verse preceding it is said, ‘I will pour of my 
Spirit upon all flesh,” the words “all flesh” represent the 
entire membership of the Church. So they are generally 
understood. 

4. We notice, finally, in this connection, the absolute 
universality of ‘the promise of the Spirit.” This is shown in 
the passages cited above. It is also manifested in the con- 
dition on which this gift of God was promised to those ad- 
dressed by Peter on this occasion. Acts i. 38: “Then 
Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized, every one of 
you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, 
and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.” Here we 
are absolutely taught that all in common who do repent and _ 
believe in Christ, and openly confess him, become, for this - 
reason, absolutely entitled to this promise. So the apostle 
positively affirms in the next verse, ‘‘ For the promise is unto 
you and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as 

3 


50 BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 


many as the Lord our God shall call.” Here we have uni- 
versality in its strictest and most absolute form. 


THE HOLY SPIRIT A PERMANENT PERSONAL PRESENCE. 


One and only one other aspect of this great theme demands 
our attention in this connection: we refer to the doctrine of 
the Spirit as an abiding presence in the Church, and in all the 
membership of the same. On this subject the teachings of 
our Saviour are perfectly specific. John xiv. 16: “And I 
will pray the Father, and he will give you another Comforter, 
that he may abide with you forever.” 

The visible presence of Christ with his disciples was tem- 
porary; that of the Spint was to be perpetual, and the 
blessings received through the presence of the Spirit were to 
be much greater than those received through the personal 
presence of Christ. John xvi. 7: ‘‘ Nevertheless I tell you 
the truth ; it is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go 
not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I 
depart, I will send him unto you.” © 

Such is the doctrine of the Spirit, as presented in the Scrip- 
tures of truth. Let us now attend to certain general sug- 
gestions tending to elucidate still further this great subject. 

We will consider — 


I. THE NATURE OF THE PROMISE OF THE SPIRIT. 


1. The Spirit, as the crowning glory and promise of the 
New Dispensation, 1s not, although supernatural, any form of 
miraculous power. As a miracle-working power, he had 
been in the Church ever since the fall, and had been imparted 
as such to the disciples prior to the death of Christ; yet as 
promised by our Saviour, and foretold by the prophets, he 
was not given until after ‘Christ was glorified.” The bap- 


- 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 51 


tism at the Pentecost was the beginning of the fulfilment of 
this promise. 

2. ‘The Spirit sustains one relation to the world, and quite 
another.to the Church. To the former, he is a convicting | 
and converting power ; to the latter, he is an all-illuminating, 
all-sanctifying, and all-strengthening presence, through whom 
we are continuously transformed into the divine image “ from 
glory to glory,” brought into “ fellowship with the Father and 
with his Son Jesus Christ,” have a continuous earnest of 
eternal fruition, and are “filled with all the fulness of God.” 

3. The promise of the Spirit does not pertain merely to 
the Apostles, the primitive Church, or a favored few in subse- 
quent ages. It is, on the other hand, the common gift to all 
who believe in Christ, the least as well as the greatest, and 
that to the end of time. Nothing can be more specific than 
the teachings of the Scriptures on this subject: ‘All thy 
children shall be taught of the Lord, and great shall be 
the peace of thy children ;” ‘The promise is to you and to 
your children, and to a// that are afar off, even to as many as 
the Lord our God shall call ;” ‘‘He that believeth on me 
(as the Scriptures have said), out of his belly shall flow rivers 
of living water. But this he spake of the Spirit, which they 
that believe on him should receive.” 

4. While all who believe become thereby entitled to this 
promise, its fulfilment is to be sought by faith, after we have 
believed ; just as pardon is to be sought in conversion. The 
promise is just as absolute in one case as in the other. 
There is nothing which God so desires to bestow upon sinners 
as pardon, and with it eternal life. There is no gift he is 
more willing to bestow upon believers than this divine bap- 
tism. Here all who ask, receive, and all who seek, find. 
Nothing but unbelief can prevent pardon ; and nothing but a 


5Y BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 


want of faith in the promise of God can prevent an “ endue- 
ment of power from on high.” 


II. Some of the Consequences of this Baptism. 


In reference to the consequences of this baptism, we would 
remark in general, that permanence and power are the leading 
characteristics. Without this, feebleness characterizes the 
strongest among us; with it, “he that is feeble among us is 
as David, and the house of David, as the Lord, as the angel of 
the Lord before him.” In the former state, ‘Our souls can 
neither fly nor go ;” in the latter, “We mount up on wings 
as eagles, we run and are not weary, and walk and are not 
faint.” In the former state, “we walk in darkness;” in the 
latter, “God is our everlasting light, and the days of our 
mourning are ended.” In the former state we are weary, 
“tossed with tempests, and not comforted;” in the latter, 
‘“‘our peace is as ariver, and our righteousness as the waves of 
the sea.” In the former state, doubts and fears prevail; in the 
latter, we walk in the cloudless sunlight of “the full assurance 
of hope.” In the one state we groan and sigh, and “weep for 
sorrow of heart ;” in the other, “we sing for joy of heart,” 
returning and coming “ to Zion with songs and everlasting joy 
upon our heads.” 

To be more particular, we remark — 1. In this state all our 
natural powers are quickened and developed into unwonted 
activity and energy. When in the presence of great minds, 
great thoughts, deep emotions, and vast energies of action, 
all our mental powers take on forms of activity otherwise im- 
possible to us. What, then, must be the effect upon our 
mental activities, when they are all brought consciously under 
the influence of the infinite and eternal mind, and energize 
and act under the power of God’s thoughts, emotions, and 
activities. 


E 2 Tek woo 
Pee ee ee ee ee ee ., 


Pee a ee 


a -  -e 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 53 


These statements are all verified by universal observation 
and experience. Whenever any one receives this baptism 
we observe immediately a radical change in the forms which 
all his activities assume. Thought is expanded, emotion 
deepened, and activity energized as never before.” 

2. Especially is there a vast accumulation of moral and st- 
ritual power — power to endure, and power to accomplish. 
Without this enduement, the mind is in continuous servitude 
to the propensities, faints under chastisements, 1s overcome 
when tempted, and rendered despondent through broken res- 
olutions. Under this baptism, we have a sovereign control 
over our own spirit or propensities, endure when tried, over- 
come when tempted, and when weak in ourselves find ever- 
lasting strength in God. 

Power with God and power with men are the invariable 
results of this anointing. After Luther received it, his ene- 
mies were accustomed to say, that he could obtain anything 
from God for which he asked. After Knox received it, Mary 
Queen of Scots, was accustomed to say, that she feared the 
prayers of that one man more than she did the fleets and arm- 
ies of Elizabeth. And who among men could “resist the 
wisdom and the spirit with which such men spake”? The 
same is true of the weakest in our churches who are thus 
quickened. 

3. Soul-transforming apprehensions of truth is another 
marked result of this baptism. ‘We all, with open face be- 
holding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into 
the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of 
the Lord.” Void of this anointing, the Bible seems to be a 
sealed book, and the whole circle of even revealed truth a 
dead letter. Withit, every truth hasan all-vitalizing power — 
power to quicken and enlarge thought, deepen spiritual emo- 


5A BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 


tion, energize the moral activities, and transform the whole 
moral and spiritual being and character. 

Under this baptism, we ever walk in the light of God, and 
every truth thus apprehended has this all-quickening, all-vital- 
izing, and all-transforming power. . 

4. Absolute assurance of hope is another equally marked re- 
sult of this baptism — assurance represented by such forms of 
expression as these: ‘We dnow that we are of God,” “‘ we 
know that we have passed from death unto life,” “we know 
in whom we have believed,” and “ truly our fellowship is with 
the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.” After the believer 
has received the witness of the Spirit, he can no more doubt 
his adoption than he can doubt his own being. There is 
nothing of which he does or can enjoy a more absolute assu- 
rance.. 

5. Another result of this baptism is conscious “« Sellowship 
with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.” Before the 
believer has received the Holy Ghost, after he has believed, 
Christ is to his apprehension far off in heaven, and God is 
at an infinite remove, retired afar off into his own infinity. 

After this baptism, the whole Deity comes to the soul, and 
makes his abode with it. God then “walks in us and 
dwells in us,” the Father and the Son “come to us, and make 
their abode with us,” and we are thus “ filled with all the ful- 
ness of God.” In prayer, we speak to him as a personal pres- 
ence, and inwardly “see his face.” God “shines in our 
hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God 
in the face of Jesus Christ.” We know then, and only then, 
what Christ means when he says, “I will come to you,” “98 
will manifest myself to him,” and “I will come unto him, 
and sup with him, and he with me.” 

6. We mention as another result, deep and permanent spir- 
wtual blessedness, forms of blessedness represented by such di- 


Seth 


es.) ee Se ee 


ry ot 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 55 


vine utterances as, “joy in God,” “ joy in tribulation,” ‘ pleas- 
ure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, 
-4 distresses for Christ’s sake,” “everlasting consolations and 
good hope through grace,” “ joy unspeakable, and full of 
glory,” “the peace of God, which passeth understanding, keep- 
ing our minds and hearts through Christ-Jesus,” ‘‘ peace asa 
river, and righteousness as the waves of the sea,” and the 
“ Lord shall be their everlasting light, and the days of their 
mourning shall be ended.” In short, when we have received 
the Holy Ghost, after we have believed, our interior life will 
fully correspond with Christian experience, as foreseen by the 
ancient prophets, and as portrayed in the New Testament. 

4. “Walking in the light, as God 1s in the light,” as another 
result of infinite moment, will follow this baptism. We shall 
“have fellowship” not only “with the Father, and with his Son 
Jesus Christ,” but also “one with another ;” and the prayer of 
our Saviour in the behalf of his people will be fully answered : 
“ That they all may be one ; as thou, Father, art in me, and I 
in thee, that they also may be one in us; that the world may 
believe that thou hast sent me ;” “I in them, and thou in me, 
that they may be made perfect in one ; and that the world 
may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou 
hast loved me.” 

When this “unity of the Spirit” shall obtain among believ- 
ers — and it always does obtain under this baptism — then the 
world’s redemption is near. It is vain to expect brotherly 
love to continue on any other condition. 


III. CONDITIONS ON WHICH THIS BAPTISM MAY BE 
- OBTAINED. 
In the expositions above given, the conditions on which we 
may obtain this divine baptism have been rendered so plain, 
that only a few particulars need to be specified under this di- 


56 BAPTISM OF THE IOLY GHOst. 


vision of our subject. It may be stated as a general principle 
- of the divine administration, and especially in connection with 
the gift of the Spirit, that no such blessing is conferred until its ; 
value is appreciated, until there is faith in the provisions and 
promises of grace in respect to it, and until it is specifically 
sought as a supreme good. What, then, are the conditions 
on which we may become participants of this all-crowning gift . 
of divine grace? They are, among Others, the following : : 
1. It must be clearly separated in thought from all miracu- 
lous endowments, and from that form of divine influence 
which issues in conversion and justification. What if the dis- 
ciples, when told to.“ tarry in Jerusalem, until they were en- 
dued with power from on high,” had replied, ‘Lord, we have | : 
the Spirit already, we have his miraculous gifts, and his con- } 
verting influence has never left us.” . Would they have ob- a 
tained the Pentecostal baptism ? Assuredly not. Having such 
a state of mind, would any of the individuals subsequently ad- 
addressed by the Apostles upon this subject have been filled 
with the Spirit ? 
So with us at the present time. God has so clearly distin- 
guished and separated this from all other gifts of grace and 
forms of divine manifestation, that until we have distinctly re- 
“cognized and credited what he has revealed upon the subject, 
we are not prepared to receive the blessing, and have no rea- 
son to expect it. 
2. We must distinctly recognize ourselves, on account of 
our having exercised “repentance towards God, and faith in 
our Lord Jesus Christ,” as formally entitled to plead “the 
promise of the Spirit,” with the absolute certainty of receiving 
it. This is the distinctly revealed birthright of every believer. 
So we must regard the subject. 
3- Ina state of supreme consecration to Christ, we must 
plead this promise before God, and watch for it, pray for it, 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 57 


and wait for it, as the disciples did at Jerusalem, until the bap- 
tism of power rests upon us. Here, all reap who faint 
not. Reader, “the highway of holiness” is now open before 
you. Will you walk in it? Will you tarry before God, until 
you, for your life mission and work, are ‘“endued with power 
from on high” ? 


3* 


58° BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 


+ 


DISCOURSE IV. 


BAPTISMS OF THE SPIRIT UNDER THE OLD AND NEW 
DISPENSATIONS COMPARED. 


JouN vii. 39 :—‘‘ But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should 
receive : for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glori- 
fied.” 


AT various periods of the Old Dispensation, we have ac- 
counts of baptisms of the Spirit analogous to those which oc- 
curred after ‘‘ Christ was glorified.” Yet we are told that until 
after this event ‘the Holy Ghost was not yet given.” There 
must be something very peculiar and special about this last 
enduement. To show what this specialty and peculiarity is, 
is the special object of this discourse. This we shall be able 
to do when we shall have considered 


THE HISTORIC FACTS OF THE CASE. 


Of Enoch we read, that for three hundred years he “ walked 
with God.” He must then have enjoyed certain forms and 
degrees of “ the communion and fellowship of the Spirit.”” When 
Abraham (Gen. xv. 7) was made distinctly conscious that God 
was “his shield, and exceeding great reward,” the patriarch 
must have entered into a new form of being and of life in God. 
This was to him a special baptism of the Spirit, and he had 
others equally memorable during the progress of his natural 
life. 

Jacob, during the visitations of Bethel, had a similar bap- 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 59 


tism— a baptism which gave an entirely new direction to his 
inward experience and visible activities. It was through that 
baptism that afterwards, ‘as a Prince, he had power with God 
and with man, and prevailed.” One of the most memorable 
‘nstances of this baptism is recorded of Moses, Ex. xxxlll., XXXIV. 
After informing us that “‘ The Lord spake unto Moses face to 
face, as aman speaketh unto his friend,” we have the follow- 
ing remarkable statements, which we present in their entire- 
ties : 

“ And Moses said to the Lord, See, thou sayest to me, 
Bring up this people: and thou hast not let me know whom 
thou wilt send with me. Yet thou hast said, I know thee by 
name, and thou hast also found grace in my sight. Now, 
therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, 
show me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find 
grace in thy sight - and consider that this nation zs thy people. 
And he said, My presence shall attend ¢hee, and I will give 
fhee test. And he said to him, If thy presence shall not 
attend me, conduct us not hence. For wherein shall it be 
known here that I and thy people have found grace in thy 
sight? So shall we be separated, I and thy people, from all 
the people that ave upon the face of the earth. And the 
Lord said to Moses, I will do this thing also that thou hast 
spoken ; for thou hast found grace in my sight, and I know 
thee by name. And he said, I beseech thee, show me thy 
glory. And he said, 1 will make all my goodness pass before 
thee, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee ; 
and will be gracious to whom | will be gracious, and will 
show mercy on whom I will show mercy. And he said, 
Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, 
and live. And the Lord said: There is a place by me, and 
thou shalt stand upon a rock. And it shall come to pass, 
while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a cleft of 


60 BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHosr. 


the rock, and will cover thee with my hand, while I pass by. 
And I will take away my hand, and thou shalt see my back 
parts ; but my face shall not be seen!” 

Let us now contemplate the baptism itself — the baptism in 
which the divine promise to Moses was fulfilled: ‘‘ And the 
Lord descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and 
proclaimed the name of the Lord.” ‘And the Lord passed 
by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, the Lord God 
merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in good- 
ness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving 
iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means 
clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the 
children, and upon the children’s children, to the third and 
to the fourth generation. And Moses made haste, and bowed 
his head towards the earth, and worshipped.” 

From that moment onward, Moses was a new man. He 
felt, spoke, and acted as it was impossible. for him to have 
done before. Prior to this he had known God as the Creator 
and universal Law-giver, and had received from him the power 
ef working miracles, together with the Spirit of revelation. 
Yet he had never, in the true and proper sense, ‘ kzown 
God” or “understood his way ;’ and more especially was 
he ignorant of what constituted the essential glory of the 
divine character. From that moment the glory of God was 
the everlasting light of his soul. 

Permit us to drop an important remark here — a remark in 
respect to the manner in which this baptism is commonly 
given. It is in connection with some special manifestation of 
the glory of God, or of the love of Christ, or of the fulness of 
grace, to the mind. In meditation or prayer, all at once the 
veil is lifted, and open visions of God and Christ, in some 
form, are presented; or, while reading the Word of God the 
same vision is presented through some particular passage. 


BAPTISM OF THE IOLY GHOST. 61 


From that moment a glory gilds the sacred page everywhere, 
such as was never conceived of before. 

We would now direct attention to Num. xi. 25-30, where 
we have an account of the baptism given to the seventy 
elders who were selected to aid Moses in ruling and teaching 
the people. The prophetic spirit here vouchsafed was not 
that of foretelling future events, but of speaking divine truth 
under special divine influences. Let us attend to the passage : 
“ And Moses went out, and told the people the words of the 
Lord, and gathered the seventy men of the elders of the 
people, and set them round about the tabernacle. And the 
Lord came down in a cloud, and spake unto him, and took of 
the spirit that was upon him, and gave it unto the seventy 
elders ; and it came to pass, that, when the spirit rested upon 
them, they prophesied, and did not cease. But there re- 
mained two of the men in the camp, the name of one was 
Eldad, and the name of the other Medad: and the Spirit 
rested upon them; and they were of them that were written, | 
but went not out unto the tabernacle: and they prophesied 
in the camp. And there ran a young man, and told Moses, 
and said, Eldad and Medad do prophesy in the camp. And 
Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Moses, one of his 
young men, answered and said, My lord Moses, forbid them. 
And Moses said unto him, Enviest thou for my sake ? would 
God that all the Lord’s people were prophets, and that the 
Lord would put his Spirit upon them! And Moses gat him 
into the camp, he and the elders of Israel.” 

We learn from this passage, that none do or can prophesy 
who have not this baptism, and that all who do receive it 
are so filled with the burning truth that they must speak forth 
“the wondrous works of God,” and “magnify the Lord.” 
Truth apprehended through the illumination of the Spirit 1s 
“as a fire shut up in the bones.” All such must speak of 


62 BAPTISM OF THE IIOLY GHOST. 


their visions of God, and of the love of Christ, and of the 
glories of redemption. 

The next case to which we would invite attention is the 
baptism given to Saul after Samuel had anointed him king. 
I Sam. x. 9-13: “And it was so, that, when he had turned 
his back to go from Samuel, God gave him another heart: 
and all those signs came to pass that day. And when they 
came thither to the hill, behold! a company of prophets met 
him ; and the Spirit of God came upon him, and he prophesied 
among them. And it came to pass, when all that knew him 
beforetime saw that, behold! he prophesied among the 
prophets, then the people said one to another, What is this 
that has come unto the son of Kish? /s Saul also among the 
prophets? And one of the same place answered and said, 
But who zs their father? Therefore it became a proverb, Zs 


Saul also among the prophets? And when he had made an 


end of prophesying, he came unto the high place.” 

The new heart given to Saul was not, we suppose, a holy 
but kingly state of mind —a state by which he was fully quali- 
fied for his new office. The prophetic Spirit, of which he 
became at the time possessed, was the common result of a 
temporary or permanent baptism of the Spirit. One great 
truth is presented in this passage in regard to the divine 
anointing. It always imparts special qualifications for spe- 
cific spheres of usefulness. In 1 Sam. xix. 18--23, we have a 
striking instance in which temporary baptisms come upon 
wicked men: “So David fled, and escaped, and came to Sam- 
uel to Ramah, and told him all that Saul had done to him. 
And he and Samuel went and dwelt in Naioth. And it was 
told Saul, saying, behold! David is at Naioth in Ramah. And 
Saul sent messengers to take David; and when they saw the 
company of the prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing 
as appointed over them, the Spirit of God was upon the 


la 
Pe: eet i ee ee 


i cd er 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 63 


messengers of Saul, and they also prophesied. And when it 
was told Saul, he sent other messengers, and they prophesied 
likewise. And Saul sent messengers again the third time, 
and they prophesied also. Then went he also to Ramah, 
and came to a great well that zs in Sechu ; and he asked and 
said, Where are Samuel and David? And one said, Behold! 
they be at Naioth in Ramah. And he went thither to N aioth 
in Ramah ; and the Spirit of God was upon him also, and he 
went on, and prophesied, until he came to Naioth in Ramah.” 

A similar spirit, we are told, came wpon Balaam — a spirit 
under which he uttered, for the time, just such truths as God 
dictated. Through the baptisms which came upon David, 
Asaph, and other sweet singers of Israel, we have the psalms 
and hymns and spiritual songs and prophetic utterances 
which constitute the glory of the Old Testament. 

In 2 Kings ii. 9-15, we have an account of the special bap- 
tism which Elisha received, and by which he was prepared for 
the prophetic office: ‘And it came to pass, when they were 
gone over, that Elijah said to Elisha, Ask what I shall do for 
thee, before I be taken away from thee. And Elisha said, 
I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me. 
And he said, Thou hast asked a hard thing: nevertheless, if 
thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto 
thee; but if not, it shall not be so. And it came to pass, 
as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared 
a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both 
asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. 
And Elisha saw 7, and cried, My father, my father, the cha- 
riot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof! And he saw him no 
more: and he took hold of his own clothes, and rent them in 
two pieces. He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell 
from him, and went back and stood by the bank of Jor- 
dan; and he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and 


64 BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 


smote the waters, and said, Where is the Lord God of 
Elijah? And when he also had smitten the waters, they 
parted hither and thither, and Elisha went over. And when 
the sons of the Prophets which were to view at Jericho saw 
him, they said, The spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha. And 
they came to meet him, and bowed themselves to the ground 
before him.” 

From the moment the spirit of Elijah fell upon Elisha, the 
prophetic life of the latter commenced. Under the baptism 
then received, and afterward perpetuated, he was rendered the 
wonderful man that he then became, ‘ The chariot of Is- 
rael, and the horsemen thereof.”’ 

The preceding account is of immense interest, as indicating 
the state of mind in which this baptism is obtained. - Elisha was 
fully impressed with the conviction that he was to succeed 
Elijah as the prophet of the Lord. Hence his immutable 
determination not to be separated from his predecessor 
until through him the requisite “‘enduement of power from 
on high” had been received. So when we regard ourselves 
as ‘‘called of God to be saints,” and as such as also called to 
fill some sphere of usefulness and duty in “ God’s kingdom,” 
and under the deep impression that ‘we are not sufficient 
of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves, but that our suf- 
ficiency is of God,” we then immutably fix our hearts, as 
Elisha did, upon “ the promise of the Spirit ” —the baptism is 
near. 

In the New Testament we have instances of special bap- 
tisms prior to the time when Christ was glorified. In Luke 1. 
67-79, after the circumcision of John, we have the following 
account of the baptism received by his father Zacharias : 

“¢ And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost, 
and prophesied, saying, Blessed de the Lord God of Israel ; for 
he hath visited and redeemed his people, and hath raised up an 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 65 


horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David; as 
he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been 
since the world began: that we should be saved from our ene- 
mies, and from the hand of all that hate us; to perform the 
mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy cov- 
- enant, the oath which he sware to our father Abraham, that 
he would grant unto us, that we, being delivered out of the 
hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear, in holiness 
and righteousness before him, all the days of our life. And 
thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for 
thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways ; 
to give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the re- 
mission of their sins, through the tender mercy of our God, 
whereby the day-spring from on high hath visited us, to give 
light to them that sit in darkness and iz the shadow of death, 
to guide our feet into the way of peace.” 

The following (Luke i. 39-55) is the account of the baptism 
and the results of the same — the baptism which came upon 
Elisabeth and Mary when they met in the house of the for- 
mer : 

“ And Mary arose in those days, and went into the hill coun- 
try with haste, into a city of Juda; and entered into the 
house of Zacharias, and saluted Elisabeth. And it came to 
pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the 
babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the 
Holy Ghost: and she spake out with a loud voice, and said, 
Blessed av/ thou among women, and blessed zs the fruit of 
thy womb. And whence és this to me, that the mother of my 
Lord should come to me? For, lo, as soon as the voice of 
thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my 
womb for joy. And blessed is she that believed: for there 
shall be a performance of those things which were told her 
from the Lord. 


66 BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 


‘And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my 
spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. For he hath regarded 
the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth 
all generations shall call me blessed. For he that is mighty 
hath done to me great things; and holy zs his name. And 
his mercy zs on them that fear him from generation to genera- 
tion. He hath showed strength with his arm; he hath scatter- 
ed the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He hath put 
down the mighty from /heir seats, and exalted them of low 
degree. He hath filled the hungry with good things; and 
the rich he hath sent empty away. He hath holpen his serv- 
ant Israel, in remembrance of zs mercy ; as he spake to our 
fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed for ever.” 

How analogous are the results portrayed in all the above 
cases to those which followed the gift of the Holy Spirit after 
“Christ was glorified”! ‘*They heard them speak with 
tongues and magnify God.” ‘“ And they spake with tongues, 
and prophesied.” ‘And the disciples were filled with joy and 
with the Holy Ghost.” ‘Out of his belly shall flow rivers of 
living waters.’ The leading idea, also represented by the 
term prophesy, as that term is employed in both Testaments, 


is rendered manifest in all the passages above cited. It is 


not uttering future events, though this often attended this 
baptism. It is, on the other hand, uttering inspired truths 
under the immediate influence of the Holy Spirit, and con- 
sequently speaking unto men to “edification, and exhortation, 
and comfort.” Equally manifest is the fact, that what is 
essential in this gift is no miraculous endowment, though this 
often, also, attended such enduements. It is, on the other 


hand, that divine illumination and manifestation in which. 


‘‘God becomes our everlasting light, and the days of our 
mourning is ended.” 


ania 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 67 


‘¢THE BAPTISMS OF THE SPIRIT’ UNDER THE TWO DISPENSA- 
TIONS COMPARED AND CONTRASTED. 


But while “the baptisms of the Spirit” under the two dis- 
pensations were thus analogous, we are still informed that the 
Holy Ghost was not given until after Christ was glorified. If 
we will also notice what is said upon the subject in the New 
Testament, we shall perceive that there is an essential differ- 
ence between the two forms of baptism. The following 
is Peter’s statement: “ Of which salvation the Prophets have 
inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace 
that should come unto you: searching what, or what manner 
of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, 
when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the 
glory that should follow. Unto whom it was revealed, that 
not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, 
which are now reported unto you by them that have preached 
the Gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from 
heaven ; which things the angels desire to look into.” 

Paul informs us that God has reserved better things for us 
than the ancient saints enjoyed, and that it was only by anti- 
cipating and believing in what we have received, that they were 
rendered perfect: “And these all, having obtained a good 
report through faith, received not the promise: God having 
provided some better things for us, that they without us — 
should not be made perfect.” 

John, in the passage above alluded to, tells us that the Holy 
Ghost, as promised under the New, was not given under the 
_ Old Dispensation. We are now prepared to state definitely 
the difference between these two forms of baptism, and to 
show in what sense and form the Holy Ghost was not 
given until after Christ was glorified. As preparatory to answer- 
ing these inquiries, let us fix our attention upon the special 


68 BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 


prophecy of the fulfilment of which the baptism at the Pente- 
cost was the commencement. 

Acts ii. 14-18: “ But Peter, standing up with the eleven, 
lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judea, and 
all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and 
hearken to my words: for these are not drunken, as ye sup- 
pose, seeing it is dwt the third hour of the day. But this is 
that which was spoken by the prophet Joel: Andit shall come 
to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my 
Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall 
prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your 
old men shall dream dreams: and on my servants and on my 
handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and 
they shall prophesy.” 

These two forms of baptism differ fundamentally from each 
other in the following particulars : 

1. In the extent and universality of the gift and promise of 
the Spirit. Under the Old Dispensation such special anointings 
were granted only to a few individuals. Under the New, 
what Moses desired might be universal then, becomes univer- 
salnow. ‘Would God that all the Lord’s people were prophets, 
and that the Lord would pour his Spirit upon them.” ‘The 
promise of the Spirit” now hangs over ‘all flesh.” All God’s 
people in common are privileged and required to become 
‘‘the Lord’s prophets,’ and being all in common “filled 
with the Spirit,” to ‘“‘speak unto men to edification, and ex- 
hortation, and comfort.” In this fundamental form, the Holy 
Ghost had never before been promised or given. | 

2. There is another distinction equally fundamental and 
important. We refer to the element of permanency. Under 
the Old Dispensation, the prophetic baptisms were “like 
angels’ visits, few and far between.” For long periods, we are 
informed, the Church had no prophets, and “no teaching 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 69 


priests.” Under the New Dispensation, the Spirit is to be in 
the Church as a perpetually abiding presence to the end of 
time: “I will pray to the Father, and he shall give you an- 
other Comforter, that he may abide with you forever.” 

The fundamental design of God, in this dispensation, is that 
the prophetic office, in its special signification, shall never 
cease, and that it shall be just as extensive as the real mem- 
bership of the Church. What a fundamental difference we 
have here between these two dispensations ! 

3. But the fundamental peculiarity which distinguishes 
these two dispensations, the one from the other, is the relative 
power of the Spirit’s manifestations in each. The Spirit 
“speaks not of himself” For sanctification, for edification, 
and for consolation, he can only show to the mind those forms 
of divine knowledge already communicated. 

Under the Old Dispensation, the glory of God was very 
obscurely revealed. Hence the power which the Spirit could 
wield for the ends referred to, was comparatively feeble. Un- 
der the present Dispensation, through the revelation of “the 
glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ,” all of God that can 
be revealed to creatures in our circumstances has been made 
manifest: ‘Life and immortality have been brought to light 
through the gospel ;” “‘ No man hath seen God at any time ;” 
“The only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father, he 
hath declared hin.” 

When, therefore, “ the Spirit takes of the things of Christ and 
shows ¢hem unto us,” so that we “behold, with open face, the 
glory of the Lord;” when he brings us into “fellowship with the 
Father and with his Son Jesus Christ,” and God and Christ, 
through the Spirit, ‘‘come to us, and make their abode with us 5” 
when he unveils to our vision “the New Jerusalem coming 
down from God out of heaven ;” when he enables us to com- 
prehend the breadth, and length, and depth, and height, and 


70 BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 


to “know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge,” and 
thus ‘fills us with all the fulness of: God,’’ — “ the communion 
and fellowship,” ‘the sealing and earnest,” and all “the man- 
ifestations of the Spirit,” are so new, so removed from, and 
so infinitely superior to anything known in the Church before, 
that it may truly and properly be said, that until after Christ 
was glorified, “ the Holy Ghost had not yet been given.” After 
this event we have a new Dispensation, and as a consequence 
‘a new mission of the Spirit. 


WHY MANY CHRISTIANS MAGNIFY THE PRIVILEGES OF OLD ~ 


TESTAMENT SAINTS, AND OF THE APOSTLES PRIOR TO 
CHRIST'S CRUCIFIXION. 


We now clearly see why it is that many Christians magni- 
fy the privileges of Old Testament saints, and especially those 
of the Apostles prior to the death of Christ, and speak of these 
as even more highly privileged than we now are. The former 
were witnesses of wondrous miracles, listened to the prophets, 
and sometimes even to angels; while the latter heard Christ 
himself, and were eye-witnesses of his mighty works. No won- 
der that they were “holy men of God.” 

No Christian who “has received the Holy Ghost since he 
believed” ever entertained such a thought as that. The means 
of sanctification, consolation, and “fulness of joy” within the 
sphere of our vision and faith, were wholly unknown to them ; 
nor had the chiefest apostle, after Christ was glorified, any ad- 
vantage in these respects over and above the least of dll the 
saints now. Sanctification, “everlasting consolations, and 
good hope through grace,” and “fulness of joy,” are not 
through. “mighty signs and wonders,” talking with prophets, 
or through “ angels’ visits,” but ‘by the power of the Holy 
Ghost ;” and this all- sanctifying power God is ready to pour 


out upon us, with all the fulness that he did upon Paul. “If — 


BAPTISM OF THI HOLY GIIOST. Ta: 


thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that be- 
lieveth.” 


DEGREE OF SPIRITUAL POWER AND SANCTIFIED CHARACTER 
EXPECTED UNDER THE TWO DISPENSATIONS. 


We are now prepared to judge correctly of the degree of 
spiritual power and sanctification which was expected un- 
der the Old, and is expected under the New Dispensation. 
The lowest now is, in all these respects, to equal the highest 
then ; while the highest now is to be like the sons of God be- 
fore the throne. ‘He that is feeble among them at that day 
shall be as David, and the house of David shall be as God, 
as the angel of the Lord before him.” 

What, then, is the main cause of the present feebleness of 
our churches? It is because the great doctrine of the bap- 
tism of the Holy Ghost has gone into a deep and dark eclipse 
among us. What meaning do most Christians now attach to 
the question: ‘‘ Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye 
believed?” Almost as little as if they ‘‘ had never heard wheth- 
er there be any Holy Ghost.” 


THE PRIMITIVE AND. THE MODERN. CHURCH. 


We notice, also, the difference between the experience of 
the primitive and the modern Church, and the cause of that dif- 
ference. The leading theme of the former was the doctrine 
which we are now considering. Hence the disciples were then 
‘filled with joy and the Holy Ghost.” Now this doctrine, as 
we have said, has gone into a deep and dark eclipse. As a 
consequence, many believers “walk in darkness, and have no | 
light,” sigh after their first love, weep in sorrowful widowhood 
under the bondage of sin, and know almost nothing of the 
hidden life, but ‘an aching void” in the soul. 

When the primitive Church was scattered abroad, all its 


72 BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 


members ‘went everywhere preaching the Word;” now, 
when our members emigrate, many of them leave not only 
their religion, but their profession, behind them — very many of 
them carrying not the love of Christ, but of gold, in their hearts. 
This state of things will continue until the doctrine of the 
Spirit is everywhere understood, preached, and realized in the 
Church. 


THE STATE TOWARDS WHICH THE CHURCH IS ADVANCING. 


With the deepest interest and heart-felt satisfaction, we 
next turn attention to the state towards which the Church is 
advancing, and to which she will attain, as the millennium 
draws on. ‘“ Conceive,” says Mr. Barnes, “of the brightest 
form of experience known to the best Christian in his best 
hours now. Conceive of this state as increased to the full 
extent of the soul’s capacities, and then conceive of this as the 
common and perpetual experience of all the Church, and then 
you may have some feeble conception of the coming millen- 
nium.” We will only add, “Even so come, Lord Jesus, come 
quickly. Amen.” 


THE POWER OF THE SPIRIT NOW AND IN APOSTOLIC TIMES. 


‘We add but one thought more. We refer to “the power of 
the Spirit,” for sanctification, consolation, and fulness of joy, 
now, and in apostolic times. That power, instead of being less, 
is much greater now than it was then. All that they had, we 
have, together with all of “our God and his Christ” that has 
been made manifest through the word and providence of God 
since that time. The power of the Spirit, as represented in 
prophecy, is a perpetually accumulating power. This great 
central truth of the present dispensation is specifically set 
forth in the 47th chapter of Ezekiel — and set forth by means 
of the emblem of “a pure river of the water of life,” a river 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. te 


issuing from the threshold of the House of God; a river flow- 
ing eastward, with perpetual accumulations, filled with life and 
food for man, fertilizing the whole country through which it 
flows, and healing even the waters of the Dead Sea. We cite 
a few verses from this wonderful chapter : 

‘Afterward he brought me again unto the door of the 
house ; and, behold, waters issued out from under the thresh- 
old of the house eastward: for the forefront of the house 
stood toward the east, and the waters came down from under, 
from the right side of the house, at the south side of the altar. 
Then brought he me out of the way of the gate northward, 
and led me about the way without unto the outer gate by the 
way that looketh eastward ; and behold, there ran out waters 
on the right side. And when the man that had the line in his 
hand went forth eastward, he measured a thousand cubits, and 

he brought me through the waters; the waters were to the 
ankles. Again he measured a thousand, and brought me 
through the waters; the waters were to the knees. Again he 
measured a thousand, and brought me through: the waters 
were to the loins. Afterward he measured a thousand, and it 
was a river that I could not pass over: for the waters were 
risen, waters to swim in, a river that could not be passed 
over.” ‘The golden age” of the Church is not in the past, but 
in the future. There should be no sickly nor imbecile be- 
lievers now. “He that is feeble among ws should be,” not 
“as David,” but as Paul and the holy Apostles. 

4 . 


74 BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 


DISCOURSE V. 


BAPTISM OF THE SPIRIT UNDER THE NEW DISPEN- 
SATION. 


Hes. xi. 40o— ‘‘God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us - 
should not be made perfect.” 


In the last discourse, some light, we may hope, was thrown 
upon the forms of the baptism of the Spirit both under the Old 
and under the New Dispensation. The Spirit was given un- 
‘der the former, but in forms so new in the latter, as to render 
proper the statement of the Apostle, that “the Holy Ghost 
was not given until after Jesus was glorified.” The superiority 
of the latter over the former is a leading theme of all the pro- 
phets. 

This baptism, with its results in the Church and upon the 
world, is “the glory which was to follow the sufferings of 
Christ.” These are “the bétter things God hath reserved 
for us” —‘‘the better things,” inquiring after which, and 
searching into and believing in which, rendered even the pro- 
phets perfect. ‘What sort of persons ought we to be,” upon 
whom, and to whom, this glory has descended? That far 
more is expected and justly required of us than was possible 
to them, we argue from the following considerations : 


MORE NOW EXPECTED AND REQUIRED OF US THAN WAS 
POSSIBLE UNDER THE FORMER DISPENSATION. 
1. Thisis a dispensation of far greater ight and knowledge 
than the other. They had the Old Testament only. We have 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GuHOSstT. (6) 


that, with the New. The former differs from the latter, as the 
first glimmer of dawn differs from the light of cloudless noon. 
They knew nothing of Christ, but what was obscurely hinted 
through types and shadows, and prophetic revelations, which 
the prophets themselves did not fully comprehend. “We be- 
hold, with open face, the glory of the Lord.” The way of holi- 
ness was to them very obscure and intricate. We walk in the 
King’s highway, in which “a wayfaring man, though a fool, 
shall not err.” With them, noonday light was but a feeble 
twilight. With us, even “at evening time there is light.” 
Our moon far outshines their sun. “Life and immortality 
are brought to light through the Gospel.” 

2. The law of duty is revealed to us in far clearer, and more 
attractive and impressive forms, than it was to them. To them 
it was revealed almost exclusively in the preceptive form, ‘line 
upon line, precept upon precept, here a little, and there a 
little.” That same law comes to us, not merely in the form 
of command and prohibition, but also as exemplified in all its 
applications, through the pure and spotless example of Christ. 
They were taught what to do. We dre taught not only what 
to do, but oz to do it. 

3- The forms of truth hidden from them and revealed to us 
have a guickening and transforming power, not possessed by 
the same forms as revealed under the Old Dispensation. The 
truths then known, through the new light now thrown upon 
them, have far greater power than any other forms of truth 
ever did or can possess. ; 

The Apostle John, in comparing the present with the for- _ 
mer dispensation, tells us that “the darkness has passed, and 
the true light now shineth.” Peter tells us that the prophets, who 
stood amidst the clearest light then vouchsafed, “inquired 
and searched diligently, searching what, or what manner of 
time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when 


76 " BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 


it testified before times of the sufferings of Christ, and the glory 
which should follow. Unto whom it was revealed that not 
unto themselves, but unto us, they did minister the things 
which are now reported unto you by them that have preached 
the Gospel unto you, with the Holy Ghost sent down from 
heaven ; which things the angels desire to look into.” 

How impressive is the contrast which Paul draws between 
these dispensations! “For ye are not come unto the Mount 
that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto 
blackness, and darkness, and tempest, and the sound of a 
trumpet, and the voice of words.” ‘But ye are come unto 
Mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly 
Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the 
general assembly and church of the first-born, which are writ- 
ten in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits 
of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the Mediator of the new 
covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better 
things than that of Abel. See that ye refuse not him that 
speaketh ; for if they escaped not that refused him that spake 
on earth,much more shali not we escape, if we turn away from 
Him that speaketh from heaven.” 

The Scriptures everywhere represent the Gospel as not only 
shedding new light upon questions pertaining to God, Christ, 


the Holy Spirit, duty, sin, holiness, redemption and immor- . 


tality, but as revealing forms of truth which have power before 


unknown, for conversion, sanctification, consolation, and ful- — 


ness of joy. : 

One prophet speaks of these new revelations as ‘‘a foun- 
tain opened to the House of David, and to the inhabitants of 
Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness.” Others speak of the 
Gospel as “a new covenant,” in the fulfilment of which God is 
to cleanse his people “from all their filthiness, and from all 
their idols;” and so completely to sanctify them, that when 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. NE. 


“their iniquity shall be sought for, there shall be none,” 
and ‘‘their_ sins, and they shall not be found.” In the New 
Testament, Christ is affirmed to be “the power of God and 
the wisdom of God unto salvation, to every one that believ- 
eth,” and that “ the weapons of our warfare are mighty, through 
God, to the pulling down of strongholds.” 

Now the special mission of the Spirit is to take truth in all 
its forms — truth as revealed in both Testaments, and to render 
it most effective for our sanctification, consolation, fulness of 
joy, and through us for the sanctification and edification of 
the Church, and the salvation of men. The Spirit knows ab- 
solutely what we need for all these high ends, and what 
forms of truth to present for the realization of all these ends, 
and how to present them for the most perfect accomplishment 
of all these benign results. Surely we ought to rise as far 
above Old Testament saints as the New Testament towers 
above the Old. Of this fact we shall be still more deeply im- 
pressed when we have considered — 


SOME OF THE HISTORIC RESULTS OF THIS BAPTISM UNDER 
THIS DISPENSATION. 


The case of the Apostles. 


If we take the Apostles as examples, and contrast their in- 
tellectual, moral, and spiritual states prior and subsequent to 
the Pentecost, we shall be constrained to acknowledge that 
such transformations of character had never occurred in the 
history of the world before. All along up to the crucifixion, 
how dull were their apprehensions ; how limited and obscure 
their vision of truth ; how weak their faith ; what cowards they | 
were ; how worldly their affections ; how weak their mutual 
love ; and how like ropes of sand were their most sacred 
fixed resolutions ! 


78 BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 


How opposite in all respects to all this were they after they 
“were all filled with the Holy Ghost.” “In a moment,” as 
it were, ‘in the twinkling of an eye,” ‘they were crucified to 
the world, and the world to them ;” and their characters took 
on forms of glorious beauty and perfection, which rendered 
them “a spectacle to the world, and to angels, and to men.” 
Their vision of truth seemed to be as cloudless as the king- 
dom of light. Their speech and their preaching brought the 
world on its knees before God. Peter, in faith, courage, and 
strength, became a rock. James and John vindicated their 
right to be called “sons of thunder.” ‘They were all con- 
querors, and more than conquerors, through Him that loved 
them.” 

Power was one of the most striking characteristics of this 
baptism. | All who received it “were endued with power 
from on high.” Before these men passed off the stage of life, 
the Gospel was firmly planted among all nations. Literally 
nad “their sound gone into all the earth, and their words 
unto the ends of the world.” 

Unity of spirit, and mutual fellowship and love, was another 
equally marked characteristic of this baptism. Before its 
descent, ambition, jealousy, and disputation among them- 
selves, about who should be the greatest, and even anger 
towards one another, often divided their hearts. Now they 
were all “one in Christ Jesus,” and nothing could interrupt 
their mutual love, fellowship, and co-operation. 

Their doldness and courage were a mystery of mysteries to 
their enemies. No power in heaven or earth could induce 
them to “deny the Lord that bought them.” ‘Their peace in 
God, their “assurance of hope,” their ‘‘ everlasting consola- 
tions,” their triumphs of faith, and “fulness of joy,” nothing 
could interrupt or diminish. “They walked in the light, as 
God is in the light.” 


BAPTISM OF THE IOLY GHOST. 19 


THE IMMEDIATE SUCCESSORS OF THE APOSTLES. 


If we turn from the Apostles and their immediate associates 
and converts to the primitive Church, we shall find, among 
countless thousands of its membership, examples equally 
conspicuous of the results and power of this baptism. 

For the first four or five centuries of the Christian era, the 
doctrine of the gift of the Spirit, after conversion and believing 
in Christ, was a great leading theme of thought and teaching. 
Flence there was a very general experience of this baptism ~ 
during all this period. } 

This was the martyr age of the Church, the era, also, of 
her power, of her glory, and of her “victory through the 
blood of the Lamb and the word of His testimony.” Such 
persecutions and fiery trials, and such patience and endur- 
ance, such brotherly love, such charity to the poor, and good- 
will to men, such faith in Christ, such meek submission to the 
Divine will, such “assurance of hope,” such deathless zeal, 
such courage, such peace in God, such “ everlasting consola-. 
tions” and “fulness of joy,” the world never witnessed until 
after “ Jesus was glorified,” and “the Holy Ghost was given.” 
‘The light of the Church had come,” and “the glory of the 
Lord had risen upon her.” As a consequence, “the Gen- 
tiles came to her’ light, and kings to the brightness of her 
rising.” “Her righteousness went forth as brightness, and 
her salvation as a lamp that burneth.” No amount of suffer- 
ing and torture, threatened or inflicted, could induce a denial 
of the faith, or draw from the sufferers any sentiments but 
those of good-will towards even their judges and tormentors. 
“The holy martyrs of Christ,” says Cyprian, ‘evidently 
show us, that during this sad hour of suffering they were 
strangers to their own bodies ; or rather, that our Lord him- 
self stood by them, and familiarly conversed with them ; and 


80 BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. | 


that, being made partakers of his grace, they made light of 
these temporal torments, and by one short hour delivered 
themselves from eternal miseries.” 

Take a single fact illustrative of the Spirit and manner in 
which believers then “endured even unto the end.” At 
Sebastia, in Armenia, in a cold and frosty night in the depth 
of winter, forty martyrs, stripped of all their clothing, were 
placed together in a lake. As death came on, they thus 
conversed together: “Is the weather sharp? but Paradise 
“is comfortable and delightful. Is the frost cold and bitter ? 
the rest that remains is sweet and pleasant. Let us but hold 
out a little, and Abraham’s bosom will refresh us; we shall 
exchange this one night for an eternal age of happiness. It 
is but the flesh that suffers; let us not spare it. Since we 
must die, let us die that we may live!” 

“By reason of our strange and wonderful courage and 
strength,” says Lactantius, ‘‘new additions are made to us; 
for when people see men torn to pieces with infinite variety 
of torments, and yet maintain a patience unconquerable, and 
able to tire out their tormentors, they begin to think (what 
the truth is) that the consent of so many, and the persever- 
ance of dying persons, cannot be in vain ; nor that patience 
itself, were it not from God, could hold out under such racks 
and tortures. Thieves and men of robust bodies are not able 
to bear such tearing to pieces ; they groan and cry out, and are 
overcome with pain, because not endued with divine patience ; 
but our very children and women (to say nothing of men) do 
with silence conquer their tormentors ; nor can the hottest 
fire force the least groan from them.” So manifest did the 
fact become, that the places where the Christians were tor- 
tured were the holy places where the greatest numbers of 
converts were made, that the Roman Emperors at length 
prohibited all public executions of the saints of God. 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 81 


Had this Divine baptism continued in the Church, long 
before the first thousand years of the Christian era had 
passed away would “the kingdoms of this world have become 
the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ.” : 


BAPTISMS OF THE SPIRIT DURING THE DARK AGES. 


If we leave this era of light and power and traverse the dark 
ages which followed —the dark ages in which this and ali other 
vital truths of the gospel went into a deep and dark eclipse 
— we shall find that even here God did not leave himself with- 
out witnesses. ‘Burning and shining lights” arose among 
all Christian nations, men and women who were “ full of faith 
and the Holy Ghost.’ These attained to the full ‘liberty of 
the sons of God,” ‘walked in the light of God,” and had 
“fellowship with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.” 

Such individuals as Thomas a Kempis, Catharine Adorna, 
and many others, were not only Christians, but believers who 
had a knowledge of all the mysteries of the higher life, and who, 
through all coming time, will shine as stars of the first magni- 
tude in the firmament of the Church. In their inward ex- 
periences, holy walk, and “ power with God and with men,” 
they had few if any superiors in any preceding era of Church 
history. ‘The unction of the Spirit” was as manifest in them 
as in the Apostles and primitive believers. They, also, made 
their attainments in the Christian life under distinct apprehen- 
sions of the doctrine of the Spirit, as set forth in these dis- 
courses. 


BAPTISM OF THE SPIRIT SINCE THE REFORMATION, 


We now turn our attention to the state of the Church since 
the Reformation. Among Catholics, there have been a few, ~ 
and among Protestants many, who have fully known this 
baptism. It is a singular fact, that while the fundamental 

4* 


82 BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 


doctrine of Protestantism was “Justification by faith,’ the 
equally essential doctrine of “Sanctification by faith’? was 
first, in modern times, distinctly announced and taught 
within the circle of the Catholic Church — announced and 
taught by such individuals as Madame Guyon an) Archbishop 
Fenelon. It is equally true, that in all the Churches of 
every name, the men and‘women who have been most dis- 
tinguished for “power with God and with men,” are the 
individuals who did receive the “sealing and earnest of the 
“Spirit” after they believed. Luther, for example, Knox and 
his associates, ‘the Scotch worthies,” who, with him, brought 
Scotland out from under the power of “the man of sin,” and 
rendered it, for a long period, the crowning glory of Christen- 
dom, received this Divine baptism in this form, and ‘“‘here 
was the hiding of their power.” 


The case of Luther. 


Let us first consider the case of Luther. After his con- 
version he had many and hard struggles after the “ Higher Life.” 
While studying the Epistle to the Romans, these words, “The 
just shall live by faith,” sent new light through his soul. On 
a subsequent occasion, when clouds and darkness hung over 
his mind in regard to the subject of personal holiness, the 
words, “The just shall live by faith,” came again to him with 
new force, and filled him with the light of heaven 

“The Pentecost,” with him, however, was not yet fully 
come. He had heard that all who, upon their knees, would 
climb Pilate’s staircase, at Rome, would thereby attain to full 
salvation. While painfully creeping up, from stone to stone, 
that ascent, he suddenly heard, in the depth of his soul, a 
voice as of thunder, “The just shall live dy faith.” In a mo- 
ment he leaped up, the freeman of the Lord. ‘ Then,” he 
says, “I felt myself born again as a new man, and I entered 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 83 


by an open door into the very Paradise of God. From 
that hour I saw the precious and holy Scriptures with 
new eyes. I went through the whole Bible. I collected 
a multitude of passages, which taught me what the work of 
God was. Truly, this text of St. Paul was to me the very 
gate of heaven.” Here we have the secret of Luther's sub- 
sequent courage and power. Here, too, we have one special 
form in which “the baptism of the Spirit” is commonly re- 
ceived —the opening, in new and divine forms, of some . 
special truth of God upon the mind, and that in connection 
with some particular passage of the Divine Word. 


“ The Scotch Worthies.” 


“The Memoirs of the Scotch Worthies” disclose three 
central facts in their spiritual history — their conversion, fol- 
lowed by the common forms of Christian experience; a 
subsequent heart-searching, breaking up of the fountains of 
the great deep of the soul, and a renewa/, in which they were 
filled with “the light of God;” and, finally, forms of the di- 
_ vine life so new, and so far transcending anything before ex- 
perienced, that they were utterly at loss in regard to the 
nature and character of their first conversion. 

It was after this renewal that they became the mighty 
men of God, who revolutionized that kingdom. It was no 
uncommon event then, for one, two, and sometimes as many 
as five hundred souls, to be converted under single discourses 
delivered by these men—souls who evinced, by their subse- 
quent lives, that they belonged to ‘“ the people of whom God 
is not ashamed to be called their God.” It was the eclipse 
of this glory which left the Scotch Church the comparatively 
“ dead letter” which it now is. 


84 BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 


Mr. Wesley and his associates. 


Who is not aware that no one ever led a more laborious, 
and comparatively fruitless life, than did Mr. Wesley, during 
the interval between his conversion and divine baptism, and 
that very few ever led a more laborious and fruitful life than 
he did after he was ‘“‘endued with power from on high.” ‘The 
era of his barrenness terminated, and of his amazing fruitful- 
ness commenced, at the same moment. ‘The same is true of 
his associates. The experience of these men of God should 
be a solemn admonition to all believers, never to go forth to 
their life mission and work but under “the power of the 
Spirit.” | 


The Tenants. 


The Tenants, William especially, were the wonder of the 
age in which they lived. The secret of the savor of God 
which everywhere encircled them, and of their wonderful 
power as “ministers of the Word,” was the fact that ‘“ after 
they believed they were sealed with the Holy Spirit of 
promise.” 

On one occasion, during the interval of worship on the 
Sabbath, Mr. William Tenant retired to a grove near by, for 
private meditation and prayer. When the congregation re- 
assembled, and their pastor did not appear, several individ- 
uals went to the grove to find him. They found him lying 
helpless upon the ground, under the power of the visions of 
God which had there opened upon his mind. In their arms 
they carried him to the pulpit, where he lifted up a prayer 
_ that God would veil his power and love a little, so that he 
might tell the people of the “glory manifested to him.” The 
prayer was answered, and “no man” not thus illumined 
“ever spake as did this man” on that occasion. Such mani- 
festations were of common occurrence in the experience of 


BAPTISM OF TUE MOLY GHOST. 85 


these men, and they ever spoke and acted under their influ- 
ence. 


President Edwards. 


President Edwards thus describes the baptism which ren- 
dered his subsequent life so divine: ‘One day, when walk- 
ing for divine contemplation and prayer, I had a view, that for 
me was extraordinary, of the glory of the Son of God, as 
Mediator between God and man, and his wonderful, great, full, 
pure, and sweet grace and love, and meek and gentle conde- 
scension. ‘This grace, that appeared so calm and sweet, ap- 
peared also great above the heavens; the person of Christ 
appeared also ineffably excellent, with an excellency great 
enough to swallow up all thought and conception, which con- 
tinued, as near as I can judge, about an hour, which kept me 
the greater part of the time in a flood of tears, weeping aloud. 
Thad an ardency of soul to be, what I know not otherwise how 
to express, emptied and annihilated, to lie in the dust and to be 
filled with Christ alone, to love him with a holy and pure love, 
to trust in him, to live upon him, and to be perfectly sancti- 
fied, and made pute with a divine and heavenly purity.” 


Mrs. Edwards. 


Of the lady who afterwards became his wife, and who, dur- 
ing her married life, often had visions of the divine glory and 
love, under the power of which she would lie helpless for 
hours, President Edwards thus writes : 

‘¢ They say there is a young lady in who is beloved of 
that great Being who moves and rules the world, and that there 
are certain seasons in which this great Being, in some way or 
other invisible, comes to her, and fills her mind with exceed- 
ing sweet delights, and that she hardly ever cares for anything, 
except to meditate on Him; that she expects, after a while, 


86 BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 


to be received up where He is, to be raised up out of this 
world and caught up into heaven, being assured that He loves 
her too well to let her remain at a distance from Him always. 
There she is to dwell with Him, and to be ravished with His 
love and delight forever. Therefore, if you present all the 
world before her, with the richest of its treasures, she disre- 
gards it, and cares not for it, and is unmindful of any pain or 
affliction. She has a strange sweetness in her mind, and sin- 
gular purity in her affections ; is most just and conscientious 
in all her conduct, and you could not persuade her to do any- 
thing wrong or sinful if you would give her all the world, lest 
she should offend this great Being. She is of a wonderful 
sweetness, calmness, and benevolence of mind. She will 
sometimes go about from place to place, singing devoutly, 
and seems to be always full of joy and pleasure, and no one 
knows for what. She loves to be alone, walking in the fields 
and groves, and seems to have some one invisible always con- 
versing with her.” 


Merle D Aubigné. 


All are aware that the savor of the writings of Merle D’Au- 
bigné has been, throughout Christendom, ‘as ointment poured 
forth.” What was the cause of this savor? Several years 
after his conversion, when at Kiel, in company with Rev. F. 
Monod of Paris, Rev. C. Riell of Jutland, and Klenker, Bib- 
lical Professor of the University there, in the course of their 
conversation upon the Scriptures, the aged Professor refused 
to enter into any detailed solution of difficulties presented, say- 
ing that the first step was to be “firmly settled in the grace of 
Christ,” and that ‘“ the light which proceeds from Him will dis- 
perse all darkness.” ‘We were studying,” says D’Aubigné, 


‘the Epistle to the Ephesians, and had got to the end of the 


third chapter. When we. read the last two verses, ‘ Now 


Ds, 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 87 


‘ 


unto Him that can do exceeding abundantly, above all that we 
ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,’ etc., 
this expression fell upon my soul as a revelation from God. 
He can do, by his power, I said to myself, above all that we 
ask, above all, even, that we think, nay, EXCEEDING ABUN- 
DANTLY above all. A full trust in Christ for the work to be 
done in my poor heart now filled my soul.” 

They then all knelt together in prayer. ‘When I arose,” 
he adds, “I felt as if my wings had been ‘renewed, as the 
wings of eagles’ All my doubts were removed, my an- 
guish was quelled, and the Lord extended peace to me as a 
river. Then I could ‘comprehend with all saints what is the 
breadth, and depth, and length, and height, and know the love 
of Christ, which passeth knowledge.’ Then was I able to 
say, ‘Return unto thy rest, O my soul, for the Lord hath 
dealt bountifully with thee.’ ” 


Mr. Carpenter. 


About thirty or forty years ago, there died, in the city of 
Newark, N. J., a man of God, named Carpenter. At his fu- 
neral in the First Presbyterian Church in that city, it was pub- 
licly stated by one of the ministers present, that from the most 
careful estimate it-was fully believed that the deceased had 
been directly instrumental in the conversion of more than 
ten thousand souls. This man wasa layman of a very limited 
common-school education, and was very simple and ungram- 
matical in his conversation and public addresses. Prior to 
the time of his divine anointing, he had a mere “name to 
live” in the Church. As soon as he received that anointing, 
‘as a prince, he had power with God and with men.” 

At one time, for example, he, with another Christian assocl- 
ate, entered the stage to pass from Newark to New York. 
They found seven other individuals, all impenitent, with them 


88 BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 


in the vehicle. While on the way, or very soon after, all 
those seven individuals were hopefully converted, and that 
through the influence exerted during the ride. Such was the 
influence everywhere exerted by this ‘‘holy man of God.” 
To a very intimate friend he made these statements, a little 
time before his death, that, for the prior ten years, he had 
walked continuously under. the cloudless light of the sun of 
righteousness ; that the doctrine of Entire Sanctification was 
true ; that he had been in that state during the period re- 
ferred to; and that this doctrine would, ere long, be a leading 
theme in the churches. / 


President Finney. 


We would here state the important fact, that the speciai 
power which attended the preaching of President Finney, dur- 
ing the early years of his ministry, was chiefly owing to a spe- 
cial baptism of the Spirit, a personal manifestation of Christ 
to his mind, a baptism which he received not long after his 
conversion. Hence it was, that when, through him, “ the 
violated law spake out its thunders,” it did seem as if we had 
in truth “‘come unto the Mount that might be touched, and 
that burned with fire, and unto blackness and darkness and 
tempest, and the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words.” 
But when he spoke of Christ, then indeed did his ‘ doctrine 
drop as the rain, and his speech distil as the dew, as the small 
rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the mown 
grass.” ‘The reason, also, why he is bringing forth such won- 
drous “fruit in his old age,” is, that while his whole ministry 
has been under “the power of the Spirit,” his former baptisms 
have been renewed with increasing power and frequency dur- 
ing a few years past. 

In drawing this discourse to a close, we would refer to some 
of the special peculiarities which distinguish, and have dis- 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 89 


tinguished, all individuals who have received “the baptism of 
the Holy Ghost.” Among these we would designate the fol- 
lowing : 


SOME OF THE SPECIAL PECULIARITIES WHICH PECULIARIZE 
ALL WHO RECEIVE THIS BAPTISM. 


1. One of these is a peculiar and special savor about their 
lives and utterances — a savor which all in common recognize 
as unearthly and divine. When the light comes, the glory 
will be seen by the Church and the world. The prophet had 
made but a few calls at a certain house, before all the inmates 
knew him as “a holy man of God.” <A very bigoted Irish 
Catholic had occasion to board for a time in the family of a 
friend of ours, whose wife had for years “ walked in the light 
of God.” This man had from childhood been taught, and 
had believed, that “out of the Mother Church salvation is 
impossible.” His attention, however, was soon arrested by 
the peculiar spirit and sanctified conversation of that woman. 
He would frequently stop after meals, and continue conver- 
sation with her upon Christ, purity,and heaven. At the close 
of such a conversation one day, he said: “ Madam, you will 
get to heaven before you die.” ‘That man was as profane and 
wicked as he was bigoted; yet such a character as hers could 
not lift its benign form before his mind without his recogniz- 
ing it as unearthly and divine, and as advancing heavenward. 

Here is a divine something which must be possessed in 
order to be represented. A preacher, for example, a preacher 
who is a stranger to this anointing, may be very able, excit- 
ing, and even instructive, in his discourses. But the peculiar 
savor of God which attends the unction of the Spirit, no ut- 
terances can possess, but the teachings of those who “have 
received the Holy Ghost since they believed,” and those who 
have received this anointing, “cannot be hid.” . 


90 BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 


2. All such individuals, also, have an omnipresent feace, 
guictude, assurance, and fulness of joy in God, which not only 
lifts them above all worldly vicissitudes, but remains with them 
alike in all vicissitudes. ‘‘Their sun does not go down, nei- 
ther does their moon withdraw itself. The Lord is their ever- 
lasting light, and the days of their mourning are ended.” In 
the storm and the tempest; when “they go up by the moun- 
tains,” they are consciously going nearer and nearer to heaven, 
and when “they go down by the valleys,” they are as con- 
sciously going down deeper and deeper into the bosom of 
God. ‘They have learned, in whatsoever state they are, there- 
with to be content.” ‘They can do all things through Christ 
which strengtheneth them.” 

Madame Guyon, for proclaiming the doctrine of sanctifica- 
tion by faith, spent some fourteen years, as a culprit, in the 


prisons of France, a large portion of these_in the Bastile, with — 


“the Man in the Iron Mask” passing daily the door of her 
cell. But prison walls could not shut out from her heart the 
light or the peace of God. In such words as the follow- 
ing she shadows forth the peace of God in her heart : — 


*¢ A little bird I am, 
Shut out from fields of air, 
- And in my cage I sit and sing 
To Him who placed me there ; 
Well pleased a prisoner to be, 
Because, my God, it pleaseth Thee. 


“ Nought have I else to do: 
I sing the whole day long ; 
And He whom most I love to please 
Doth listen to my song ; 
He caught and bound my wandering wing, 
But still He bends to hear me sing. 


**Oh! it is good to soar, 
These bolts and bars above, 
To Him whose purpose I adore, 
Whose providence I love: 
And in Thy mighty will to find 
The joy, the freedom of the mind.” 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 91 


When will believers get so near to God, that “ the sun shall 
be no more their light by day, neither for brightness shall the 
moon give light unto them: but the Lord shall be unto them 
an everlasting light, and their God their glory”? 

3. A peculiar and special form of self-control, and balance of 
soul, a control over their own spirits, their temper, their appe- 
tites, and worldly propensities, is another very marked char- 
acteristic of all who receive this baptism. We refer to that self- 
mastery, and divine equanimity of temper represented in such 
statements and forms of expression as the following: “Being 
reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we endure it; and being 
defamed, we entreat ;” ‘‘none of these things move me ;” “I 
take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in per- 
secutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, 
then am I strong ;” and “I have learned, in whatsoever state 
I am, therewith to be content.” As the infant Jesus lay in his 
mother’s arms, with similar quietude, self-composure, self-con- 
trol, and hopeful trust, does the soul, when filled with the Spirit, 
lie in the centre of the sweet will of God. 

‘¢ President Mahan,” said a clerical friend to us, years ago, 
“JT wish you could see my mother. To give you some idea 
of what a monument of grace she is, I would state, that in 
early life she was spoiled by training. She had one of the 
worst and most ungovernable tempers I ever knew. For 
years past, she has been wholly confined to her bed from 
nervous prostration. During the early part of this period, it 
did seem that nobody could take care of her, or endure her 
continued manifestations of irritability, impatience, fretfulness, 
and furious anger. Right there, she became fully convinced 
that through grace and the baptism of the Spirit she could 
have perfect rest, quietude, and self-control. She set her 
whole heart upon attaining that state. Such was her fervency 
of spirit, and earnestness in prayer, that her friends thought 


92 d BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 


she would become deranged, and urged her to cease seeking 
and prayer. ‘I die in the effort,’ was her reply, ‘or I ob- 
tain what I know to be in reserve for me.’ At length the 
baptism of power came gently upon her. From that hour 
there has not been the slightest indication of even the remains 
of that temper. Her quietude and assurance have been ab- 
solute, and her sweetness of spirit ‘as ointment poured 
forth.’ It is no trouble to any one now, but a privilege to 
all, to care for her. Many come, even from long distances, to 
listen to her divine discourse.” 

Years passed on, and again we met. ‘What of your 
mother?” we asked. ‘Does her faith hold out?” ‘She is 
gone,” was the reply. “‘ But from the hour of that baptism to 
that of her death, that quietude and assurance remained, and 
that ineffable sweetness of temper was never for a moment 
interrupted. J witnessed the closing scene. She died of 
cholera, and in the greatest conceivable agony. Yet such pa- 
tience, such serenity of hope, and such quiet waiting for the 
coming of the Lord, I hardly before deemed possible. ‘My 
son,’ she would say, ‘nature has a hard struggle; but it will 
be soon over, and I shall “enter into the rest that remains for 
the people of God.’” 

“This,” reader, “is the victory that overcometh the world, 
even our faith.’ ‘The feeblest among us may be “more than 
conquerors, through Him that hath lovedus.” Even “at even- 
ing time there shall be light” to all who “ walk in the light of 
God.” By the grace of Christ and “ the power of the Spirit,” 
we can “rule our own spirits.” “We can do all things 
through Christ which strengtheneth us.” 

4. A peculiar and special degree of moral and spiritual 
power, “power with God and with men,” is the only other 
. characteristic which we would present, as distinguishing and 
peculiarizing those who receive this baptism. The form of 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 93 


power possessed by each is in certain respects unlike that 
possessed by any others. Yet in all it has this one common 
tendency —an almost resistless influence to draw others toward 
God, purity, and heaven. Some are “sons of thunder ;” 
others are “‘sons of consolation.” Some have special wis- 
dom as teachers of truth ; others are endued with the special 
power of exhortation. Some have peculiar forms of courage 
and faith, by which they have special power to “ strengthen 
weak hands, and confirm feeble knees ;” others have equally 
special forms of power in ministering to the necessi- 
ties of the sick and afflicted. Others still have special power 
in exciting in believers the spirit of hunger and thirst for the 
bread and waters of life. ‘What do you think of Mr. 2 
said one Christian to another P “I have not heard him.” The 
clergyman referred to was a man “full of faith and of the 
Holy Ghost.” Well,” replied the other, “if you will hear 
this man a few times, and not feel such a hungering and thirsting 
after righteousness as you never felt before, your experience 
will differ from mine.” Others have special power in drawing 
sinners to repentance. 

Power to prophesy — that is, to ‘‘ speak unto men for conso- 
lation, for exhortation, and edification” —this 1s wazversal 
among all who receive this anointing. When one or more in- 
dividuals in a given church have this baptism, there will be a 
constant divine influence there, drawing the whole body and 
people heavenward. When the Church generally shall be en- 
dued with this power, ‘‘ Gentiles will come to her light, and 
kings to the brightness of her rising.” If, then, we would 
“serve God and our generation” according to the will of our 
God and Redeemer, we must, one and all of us, tarry in the 
place of prayer, and struggle there with ‘strong crying and 
tears,” until we are “ endued with power from on high.” 


ae 


94. BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 


DISCOURSE VI. 


MENTAL STATES IN WHICH THIS BAPTISM IS RE- 
CEIVED. 


LUKE xi. 13— “If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, 
how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?” 


WHEN our Saviour came to his disciples and breathed upon 
them, saying, “ Receive ye the Holy Ghost,” he did so, not 


because there was any virtue in that breath, or in the mere 


words spoken, nor because the “gift of the Spirit” was then 
to be conferred. Indeed, a considerable period, forty days at 
least, intervened between the time of the events here 
recorded, and that of the Pentecostal baptism. These 
events occurred —John xx. 22—at the first meeting of 
Christ with his disciples after his resurrection ; whereas the 
baptism of the Pentecost was quite forty days afterwards. 
What, then, was the object of our Saviour in what he then 
did and said? It was evidently this, to induce in their hearts 
that state of waiting expectation and inward preparation, 
which are the necessary prerequisites to the reception of this 
all-crowning gift of God. The same object our Saviour had 
in view in his last promise and admonition to his disciples : 
‘And behold I send the promise of my Father upon you; 
but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with 
power from on high.” ‘And he led them out as far as to 
Bethany, and he lifted up his hands, and blessed them.” 
What was said and done here, and on the occasion previously 
referred to, did induce the prerequisite expectation, and heart 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 95 


preparation, represented by the words, “they were all with 
one accord in one place.” ‘To secure the same mental and 
spiritual preparation for the gift. to be received, was the ex- 
clusive object of the Apostles in the “laying of hands” upon — 
those who sought this blessing. 

Had the ceremony not secured this preparatory state in the 
recipient, the ordinance itself would have been a dead letter. 
The same baptism, in its original or renewed form, was then 
expected, and commonly received, in connection with the or- 
dinances of baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and special prayer. 
For such reasons, the Church, in her departures from the 
living God, attributed a saving efficacy to these and kindred 
ordinances, and that irrespective of the mental state of the ad- 
ministrator or subject. Hence the origin of formalism. When 
the primitive faith returns to the Church, we have no doubt 
but that the same speciality of divine influence will attend the 
ordinances, as did attend them at the first. Where God has 
appointed ordinances, and promises to meet his people with 
special divine influence, when they approach the same with 
prayer and inward preparedness, they should be to us holy 
places, where we always expect to meet God. If our trust, 
however, is in the ordinances, and not in the grace of Christ, 
a blight will come over our spirits in the very place where we 
should expect to be ‘ filled with the Holy Ghost.” The or- 
dinances, however, are not our present theme, but that pe- 
culiar and special mental and spiritual state which is the 
immutable prerequisite to the reception of this baptism. 


PREREQUISITE STATE. 


If we will carefully note the cases in which this anointing 
has been given, we shall not fail to recognize this important 
fact, that prior to the bestowment of the gift, the recipient 
was brought into a state of fervent desire, earnest seeking, 


96 BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 


importunate prayer, and waiting expectancy. The mind is 
brought to realize a deep inward want, “an aching void 
within’ — a soul necessity, which must be met. At the same 
time, it is rendered assured of an available fulness in Christ 
to meet that all overshadowing necessity. As a consequence, 
there arises intense desire, fervent seeking, importunity in 
prayer, and an immutable purpose to seek, and pray, and 
wait, until the promised blessing is vouchsafed. Our Metho- 
dist brethren formerly denominated this state “being con- 
victed for sanctification.” O! that all the membership of all 
the churches were thus convicted! Then would our Zion 
‘arise and shine, her light being come, and the glory of the 
Lord being risen upon her.” In all cases in which this bap- 
tism was received without being specifically expected, this 
prerequisite state was always induced. Cornelius, for exam- 
ple, after his conversion, became possessed, and oppressed, 
with the deep consciousness of inward necessities which God 
only could meet. He had, also, the inward persuasion, that 
through faith in God and prayer to him, his necessities would 
be met through the divine fulness. Hence his continuous 
fasting and prayer. The angel of God now appeared, and 
gave to the suppliant these directions: ‘‘ And now send men 
to Joppa, and call for one Simon, whose surname is Peter; he 
lodgeth with one Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the 
sea side ; he shall tell thee what thou oughtest to do.” How. 
adapted this message was to induce the intensest desire, in- 
ward preparation, and waiting expectation for the approach- 
ing blessing! All the interval was consequently spent in 
heart and outward preparation for the coming of the Lord. 
When Peter arrived, this preparedness is thus announced: 
‘¢ Now, therefore, are we all here present before God, to hear 
all things that are commanded thee of God.” It is no matter 
of wonder that the discourse of Peter was so soon interrupted 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 97. 


by the descent of the Holy Ghost upon the listeners, there 
being such an absolute inward preparedness in all for the 
reception of the gift conferred. Let us now consider some 
facts illustrative of the subject before us. : 


THE CASE OF MOSES. 


We have already alluded to the special baptism which Moses 
received after Israel had sinned in the matter of the golden 
calf. We allude to that scene now, for the purpose of disclo- 
sing the preparatory state of mind in which the new baptism 
of power was received. Having secured for the people deliv- 
erance from judgments impending over them, on account of 
their great sin; having obtained the promise that God would 
continue with the people as their God ; having received a spe- 
cial communication that he was to be their divine leader, ruler, 
and revelator ; and being deeply impressed with the conscious- 
ness of his own inadequacy for such responsibilities — his 
whole being became fixed and centred in one supreme desire 
to obtain from God a baptism of knowledge, wisdom, and 
power, to the full measure of his necessities. We can now 
read with understanding and profit the following memorable 
statements : “And the Lord spake unto Moses face to face, 
as a man speaketh unto his friend. And he turned again into 
the camp: but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young 
man, departed not out of the tabernacle. And Moses said 
unto the Lord, See, Thou sayest unto me, Bring up this 
people ; and thou hast not let me know whom Thou wilt send 
with me. Yet thou hast said, I know thee by name, and thou 
hast also found grace in my sight. Now, therefore, I pray 
Thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, show me now thy 
way, that I may know Thee, that I may find grace in thy sight, 
and consider that this nation is thy people. And he said, 
My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest. 

5 


98 BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 


And he said unto him, If thy presence go not with me, carry 
us not up hence. For wherein shall-it be known here that I 


and thy peopie have found grace in thy sight. Is it not in 


that thou goest with us? So shall we be separated, I and thy 
people, from all the people that are upon the face of the 
earth. And the Lord said unto Moses, I will do this thing 
also that thou hast spoken: for thou hast found grace in my 
sight, and I know thee by name. And he said, I beseech 
Thee, show me thy glory.” One addition to this intense de- 
sire and earnest prayer was needed — a state of waiting expec- 
tation and full preparation, such as our Saviour secured in 
his disciples prior to the scene of the Pentecost. This state 
was induced by the promise and direction which followed. 
The promise, among other things, contained these words, “I 
will make all my goodness pass before thee, and will pro- 
claim the name of the Lord before thee.” Moses was then 
directed to hew out two tables of stone, like unto the first, 
‘¢and when these were finished, to come up in the morning, 
unto Mount Sinai, to present himself there to God in the top 
of the Mount.” How all this tended to intensify desire, to 
bring the mind into a state of waiting expectation and interest, 
and to insure all inward and even outward preparation for the 
promised divine manifestation! When that preparation was 
perfected, the power of the Spiritcame upon him. Here we 
have the real meaning of the divine declaration, “Ye shall 
seek Me and find Me when ye shall search for Me with all your 
heart.” Those who do not value “the gift of the Spirit” 
enough thus to seek for it, will never receive, and those who 
know their privileges, and do not avail themselves of them, 
may well fear a final rejection as “ reprobate silver.” 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 99 


THE CASE OF A LITTLE CHILD. 


We are here reminded of the case of a little child, in the era 
of the great revivals in the days of President Edwards and the 
Tenants, a child so young, that none expected that she would be 
converted. Two facts in her appearance and conduct attracted 
at length the attention of her mother —the fact that she spent 
most. of her time alone in her bedroom, and the deep sadness 
upon her countenance whenever she came from that place. 
“¢ What is it, my daughter,” the mother inquired, “ that makes 
you appear so sad?” ‘Why, mother,’ the child replied, “‘ God 
won't come to me. I call to Him, and He won't come to 
me.” <A little time after, the precious one came from her 
room, and with unspeakable joy upon her countenance ex- 
claimed: ‘“‘ Mother, God has come. He comes to me now 
when I pray to Him.” From that moment onward, that child 
was “the wonder of many.” In prayer especially, she had 
afreedom and power of utterance which old disciples could 
hardly equal. Nor did this distinct consciousness of the pres- 
ence and light of God ever leave her, nor did the consequent 
savor of God cease to encircle her, until death, which occurred 
when she was upwards of sixty years of age, removed her with- 
in the veil. Reader, if God is not thus consciously present 
to you when you call upon him, it is because you have not 
called to him as that child did. 


THE CASE OF ELISHA. 


The case of Elisha presents a very striking illustration of 
the subject before us. Ever after the mantle of Elijah was 
thrown over him, he had been aware of the fact, that on the re- 
moval of his great predecessor he was to be called to occupy 
the place of the leading prophet of Israel. Of one fact he was 
most deeply impressed —that without a full measure of the 


100 BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 


power of the Spirit that rested upon Elijah, he would be 
wholly disqualified for his sacred mission. As a consequence, 
the reception of this baptism became to him the object of 
constantly increasing intensity of desire. He was also im- 
pressed with the conviction that this anointing, if received, 
must be secured while his great teacher and predecessor was 
with him. Hence the fixed determination of the former not 


to be separated from the latter until this blessing was secured. 


As the time ‘when the Lord would take up Elijah to heaven 
by a whirlwind” drew on, the faith, and desire, and purpose 
of Elisha were put to the severest possible test. In three 
successive instances, Elijah says to Elisha, ‘‘Tarry here, I 
pray thee ; for the Lord hath sent me” to such a place. To 
each entreaty the same answer was returned, “‘ As the Lord 
liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee.” Then 
they came to Jordan, where the last miracle of Elijah occurred. 
As they passed over, or rather through, the divided river, the 
following memorable scene occurred: ‘“ And it came to pass, 
when they were gone over, that Elijah said unto Elisha, 
Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from 
thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee let a double portion [a 
full measure] of thy spirit be upon me. And he said, Thou 
hast asked a hard thing; nevertheless, if thou see me when I 
am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee; but if not, it 
shall not be so.” This last condition secured the intensity of 
desire, the waiting expectation, and heart preparedness which 
were necessary prerequisites for the baptism of power which 
awaited the seeker. Had his faith wavered, had his purpose 
faltered, had the intensity of desire slackened, or had the re- 
quired waiting expectation and watchfulness. relaxed at all, 
“ the spirit of Elijah would not have rested on Elisha.” Are 


you thus waiting, reader, for “the sealing and earnest of the_ 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. - 101 


Spirit” ? In due time, “ you will reap, if you faint not.” But 
if you draw back, God will ‘‘have no pleasure in you.” 


AN AGED MINISTER. 


Several years since, we would say in illustration of the 
great truth before us, we met a very aged and venerable 
clergyman, who asked, on our first introduction, if we did 
not recognize him. On receiving a negative answer, he 
replied that years before, while we were at Oberlin, he, 
being then a ruling elder in a Presbyterian Church, heard of 
the work of God among us there. After reading for a time 
the Oberlin /vangelist, he determined to visit us, and know 
for himself what was the character of the work of which he 
heard so much. After conversing with Brother Finney, my- 
self, and others, he became fully convinced that God was 
with us of a truth, and that the baptism which we had received 
was in reserve for him. He accordingly set his whole being 
upon the attainment of that divine anointing, with the immu- 
table determination never to cease seeking, and praying, until 
he was really and truly “‘endued with power from on high.” 
After searching his heart, consecrating himself to Christ, and 
waiting in earnest prayer, and ‘strong crying and tears,” for 
the promised blessing, he entered his closet one day, under 
the full assurance that ‘Hex and ‘there he might “receive the 
Holy Ghost.” He accordingly determined never to leave 
that place until he should receive the gift of God, after which 
he was seeking. He had been in the place but a little time, 
when he seemed to himself to be sinking down into infinite 
depths, into the bosom of God. Here the waters of life began 
to rise and overflow in his heart, and to the full extent of his 
capabilities he knew himself to be “ filled with all the fulness of 
God.” ‘The glory, the love of Christ, and the infinite riches 
of his grace now occupied his whole being. He began to tell 


102 BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 


others of the good hand of God that was upon him, ‘of the 
riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in believers, 
the hope of glory ;” and such power everywhere attended his 
testimony, that he was urged to take out a license to preach. 


As he could not do so in his own church, he obtained one 


among the Wesleyans who were laboring in his vicinity. As 
the results of a few years labor, more than one thousand souls 
were gathered into the fold of Christ. So the Lord continued 
to bless his labors, until his voice and strength failed. Asa 
consequence, he was then quietly waiting the time when his 
divine Master should call him to the kingdom of light. The 
baptism which he had at first received was often renewed, 
and never had been diminished, as a lfe-imparting power. 
The same anointing, reader, is for you. If you would obtain 
it, however, you must appreciate its value, and “seek it with 
all your heart, and with all your soul,” and never rest, and 
give God no rest, until the Spirit of glory and of God rests 
upon you. 


THE CASE OF PAUL. 


The circumstances in which Paul received, if not his first, 
yet a very special and abiding baptism of the Spirit, is given 
by himself, 2 Cor. xii. 7-12. After he had commenced his 
ministry, he found himself greatly embarrassed in his work by 
some visible natural infirmity, which operated as a hindrance, 
and a reproach from his enemies. That such a hindrance 
might be removed, he sought unto God in prayer, thrice “be- 
seeching the Lord that it might depart from him.” In each 
instance he received the same specific answer: “‘ My grace is 
sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weak- 
ness.” As this declaration was repeated, the truth thundered 
in the depths of his soul, as did the passage, ‘‘the just 


shall live by faith,” in the soul of Luther, that what he needed — 


7 Pee 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 1038 


was not the removal of natural infirmities, but the grace and 
strength of Christ to rest upon him. From that moment the 
fulness and infinitude of that grace and strength became the 
central light of his soul, and natural infirmities and external 
obstacles became objects of joy and triumph to him ; for 
whenever these were to be encountered, then and there would 
the grace and power of God be vouchsafed to him in supera- 
bundant measure. “Most gladly, therefore,” he exclaims, 
‘¢will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ 
may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmi- 
ties, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses 
for Christ’s sake ; for when I am weak, then am I strong.” 
From that moment onward, not only did the inward expe- 
rience of Paul take a new and more triumphant direction, but 
his ministry took on forms of power which it never possessed 
before. In all his tribulations he not only himself received 
‘everlasting consolation and good hope through grace,” but 
was able to impart similar refreshings to all believers in all 
‘‘the fiery trials” which came upon them. ‘Blessed be 
God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of 
mercies and the God of all comfort ; who comforteth us in all 
our tribulations, that we may be able to comfort them which 
are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves 
are comforted of God.” 

It was under the influence of the baptism under considera- 
tion that he learned the wondrous lesson, to which. he refers 
in Phil. iv. r1-13: ‘Not that I speak in respect of want: for 
I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be con- 
tent. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to 
abound ; everywhere and in all things I am instructed both to 
be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. 
IT can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” 


104 BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 


Two important lessons we should learn from the experience 
of Paul, as it now lies out before us. 

1. The baptism of the Spirit is often given —most often, per- 
haps—in this manner: the presentation of some great and 
essential truth of the Gospel to the mind, and that in such a 


form and vividness, that that truth ever after becomes an om- 


nipresent and all-vitalizing principle in the soul, a great 
central light, which renders all other forms of revealed truth 
equally luminous and life-imparting. 

Luther tells us, for example, that from the hour when ite 
truth embodied in the words, “‘ The just shall live by faith,” 
came home with such vitalizing power to his mind, he “saw 
the precious and holy Scriptures with new eyes.” 

2. We should also learn from, this experience of Paul, to 
carry all difficulties which we meet with in the divine life 
directly to Christ. In that case, they will be taken from us, 
or we will receive such a revelation of the fulness of the 
superabounding grace and strength of Christ, that with Paul 
we shall “ most gladly glory in our infirmities, that the power 
of Christ may rest upon us.” 


CASE OF MR. CARPENTER. 


We have before referred to Mr. Carpenter, the individual 
who exerted such wonderful power for the sanctification of 
believers and the conversion of sinners. We refer to his 
case again, for the purpose of disclosing the state of mind in 
which he received such a baptism of power. He had become 
deeply impressed with the consciousness of moral and spirit- 
ual impotency, and of the absence of any assured hope, or 
settled confidence, or trust in God. He, consequently, set 
his whole heart upon attaining, through grace and the power 
of the Spirit, a permanent and settled faith, and assurance of 
hope, such as Abraham possessed. This became the fixed 


Doct :' 


» \ 1A 
ae 


Se 


\ 


eet 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GIIOST. 105 


and continued theme of thought, reading, desire, and impor- 
tunate prayer. Fora considerable time he gave himself and 
God “no rest, day nor night.” At length he was drawn out 
into a distinct and conscious dedication of himself and fam- 
ily, and all his interests, to Christ. Then the baptism of 
power came upon him, the reason being that the prerequisite 
preparation was perfected. From that time onward his 
faith never wavered for a moment, the light of God encircled 
him, and “he had power with God and with men.” 


THE CASE OF J. B. TAYLOR. 


The memory of J. B. Taylor, to all who knew him, and his 
memoir, to all who have read it, have been “as a sweet 
savor from God.” No memoir published during the pro- 
gress of the present century has been more extensively read, 
or has made a deeper impression upon the Church, than his. 
His early Christian experience had the same characteristics 
as those of most converts — sinning and repenting, resolving 
and re-resolving, and making little or no progress. Arriving 
at length to the full conviction that “ God has reserved some 
better things for us,” he set his whole heart upon attaining 
to the “full liberty of the sons of God.” The struggle, and 
the victory which ensued, he thus describes in a letter to a 
friend: “For some days I have been desirous to visit some 
friends who are distinguished for fervor of piety, and remark- 
able for the happiness which they enjoy in religion. It was 
my hope, that, by associating with them, and through the help 
of their prayers, I might find the Lord more graciously near 
to my poor soul. . 

“My desire was that the Lord would visit me, and ‘ bap- 
tize me with the Holy Spirit ;’ my cry to him was, ‘Seal 
my soul forever thine!’ I lifted up my heart in prayer that 
the blessing might descend. I felt I needed something which 

5* 


106 BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 


I did not possess. There was a void within which must be 
filled, or I could not be happy. My earnest desire then was, 
as it has been ever since —I professed religion six years 
before — that all love of the world might be destroyed, all 
selfishness should be extirpated; pride banished, unbelief 
removed, all idols dethroned — everything hostile to holi- 
ness and opposed to the Divine will crucified: that holiness 
to the Lord might be engraven in my heart, and forevermore 
characterize my conversation. 

“My mind was led to reflect on what would be my future 
situation. It occurred to me, I am to be hereafter a minister 
of the Gospel. But how shall I be able to preach in my 
present state of mind? I cannot —never, no, never shall I 
be able to do it with profit, without great overturnings in my 
soul. I felt that I needed that for which I was then, and 
for a long time had been, hungering and thirsting. I desired 
it not for my benefit only, but for that of the Church and the 
world.” . 

Such was his ardency of desire for the baptism of the Spirit, 
and for consequent perfect moral and spiritual purification. 

In another letter to an aged Christian sister, who enjoyed 
all the light and privileges of the higher life, he thus writes 
about this time: “Oh, my friend! I feel tired of living by the 
halves. God says, ‘Son, give me thine heart.’ I respond, 
‘Oh for an entire surrender!’ Of late my soul has panted more 
for complete deliverance from remaining corruption than ever 
before. Oh for perfect love Oh for complete sanctifica- 
tion in soul, body, and spirit! I beg your earnest prayers. 
I believe it attainable, and my soul thirsts for it; and until I 
possess these qualifications, I feel I shall not de fit to be a 
minister of Jesus Christ.” Such was his mental state of 
intense desire, earnest seeking, and fervent prayer. 

Let us hear the result as detailed in the letter from which 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 107 


the first extract was taken. ‘At this juncture,” he says, 
“T was most delightfully conscious of giving up all to God. 
I was enabled to say, Here, Lord, take me — take my whole 
soul, and seal me thine — thine now, and thine forever ! 
‘Tf thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.’ Then.there en- 
sued such emotions asI never before experienced; all was 
calm and tranquil, and a solemn heaven of love possessed my 
whole soul. I had a witness of God’s love to me, and of 
mine to him. Shortly after, I was dissolved in tears of love 
and gratitude to our blessed Lord. The name of Jesus was 
precious to me. ‘’ Twas music to my ear’ ‘He came as 
king, and took full possession of my heart,’ and I was enabled 
to say, ‘Iam crucified with Christ ; nevertheless I live ; yet 
not I, but Christ within me.’” 

On a subsequent occasion he thus speaks of this new 
form of being and of life which resulted from this baptism: 
“People may call this blessing what they please — faith of 
assurance, holiness, perfect love, sanctification ; it makes no 
difference to me whether they give ita name or no name, it 
continues a blessed reality, and thanks to my heavenly 
Father, it is my privilege to enjoy it. Itis yours also, and 
the privilege of all.” It is something better felt than de- 
scribed; “the white stone,” “the new name,” we remark — 
again, ‘ which no man knoweth but he who receiveth it.” 
How true are the words of the prophet, ‘Then shall ye seek 
me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your 
heart”! 


MY OWN CASE. 


When ‘the hands of the Presbytery” had been laid upon 
me, and I found myself under a charge to “ feed the flock of 
God,” I soon felt myself pressed down under the conscious- 
ness of fundamental deficiencies, especially in respect to the 


108 BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 


: 


sacred function of “building up believers in the most holy 
faith.” : 

Under my ministry, many, very many sinners were con- 
victed, converted, and “led quite to Christ,” in the matter of 
justification. But how after this to induce in the convert 
that form of the divine life which I knew to be portrayed in 
the New Testament, and foretold in the Old—here I felt my- 
self “weighed in the balance and found wanting.” The 
reason I knew to be, the want of that life perfected in my 
own experience. Hence the subject of personal holiness 
became with me the great central object of thought, inquiry, 
reading, and prayer. 

When alone with God, one day, in a deep forest, for exam- 
ple, I said distinctly and definitely to my heavenly Father, 
that there was one thing that I desired above all else —the 
consciousness that my heart was pure in his sight ; that if he 
would grant me this one blessing, I would accept of any 
providences that might attend me. This I said <‘with strong 
crying and tears.” 

In this state I came to Oberlin, as the President of that 
College. I had been there but a short time, when a general 
inquiry arose in the Church after the divine secret of holy 
living, anda direct appeal was made to Brother Finney and 
myself for specific instruction upon the subject, which induced 
in me an intensity of desire, indescribable, after that secret. 
Just as my whole being became centred in that one desire, 
the cloud lifted, and I stood in the clear sunlight of the 
face of God. The secret was all plain to me now, and I 
knew, also, how to lead inquirers into the King’s highway. 

Since that good hour, “my sun has not gone down, neither 
has my moon withdrawn itself.” Christ, reader, will never 
“write upon his own new name,” and give you “that new 
white stone, which no man knoweth but him that receiveth it,” 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 109 


until you come to value above all price the possession of his 
moral image and likeness, and until you seek that image and 
likeness with immutable fixedness of desire and purpose. 
“Then shall ye seek me and find me, when you shall search 
for me with @// your heart.” 


THE CASES OF MR. WESLEY, MADAME GUYON, AND OTHERS. 


The memoirs of the Wesleys, Madame Guyon, and indeed 
all recorded cases of the baptism of the Spirit, present most 
impressive illustrations of the necessity of full heart-prepara- 
tion before this unspeakable gift is vouchsafed. How intense 
were “the hungerings and thirstings of the Wesleys after 
righteousness,” how diligent and untiring their inquiries after 
‘the way of holiness,” how fervent their prayers for divine il- 
lumination, and how teachable their spirit, before “the Lord | 
rose upon them, and his glory was seen upon them,” and how 
did their righteousness and salvation shine forth after “ the 
brightness of their rising” ! 

For a considerable period prior to her baptism, Madame 
Guyon was deeply impressed with the conviction that God 
intended for her some specific and special mission. With 
continuous fasting and prayer, reading and meditation, she 
sought to know what that mission was, and to receive “‘ power 
from on high” for its fulfilment. At length the nature of that 
mission opened upon her mind with such distinctness and 
vividness, that she uttered the words aloud, ‘Sanctification 
by faith.” 

From that moment not a doubt rested upon her mind that 
to elucidate, exemplify, and proclaim that doctrine was her 
heaven-descended mission. That revelation, also, was at- 
tended with the bestowment of such “ power from on high,” 
that but a few years passed on before Europe, from centre 
to circumference, felt the influence of her example, vocal ut- 


110 BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 


terances, and writings; an influence, also, which the world will 
yet feel. 
PtH ESE LECT Golo crow 

We must recur here to a case which came under our ob- 
servation years ago, “among the annals of the poor.” A 
woman in poor health, poor in this world’s goods, pressed 
down with the care of a large family, with the merest ‘name 
to live” in the Church, and when moving about amid her do- 
mestic cares, had these specific reflections one day pass with 
wonderful impressiveness through her mind: ‘I shall die 
soon, and stand in the presence of God. I do not desire to 
meet my God there on a short or slight acquaintance. I de- 
sire to know him fully before that time. From this moment 
it shall be my supreme object ‘to know God, understand his 
way, and find grace in his sight.’ ” 

Without relaxation of fidelity in family duty, she set her 
whole heart upon knowing and walking with God. When 
about her daily cares, she would have her Bible open upon a 
shelf, so that as she passed around she could stop a moment 
and read a passage, and then make it the subject of medita- 
tion and prayer. With the same diligence she read the most 
spiritual works that she could obtain, the Oberlin Lvangelist 
especially. In prayer her importunity would admit of no 
denial. | 


In a short time the baptism came, and visions of God filled 


her whole being. She beheld “ with open face the glory of 
the Lord,” and truly her “ fellowship was with the Father, and 
with his Son Jesus Christ.” Asa consequence, her character 
became mildly and gloriously radiant through that whole com- 
munity. Even infidels, and there were numbers of them in 
the place, confessed that ¢here was Christian character in its 
genuineness and perfection of beauty. 

In the revival of religion which followed, none had such 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. TE 


power with the people as she. The sisters of the church 
came together, and did up her fall and winter sewing, that she 
might visit from house to house. All the cavils of infidels, 
Universalists, and worldlings were silenced under the power 
of her appeals and the divine radiance of her character. 

Her pastor, who was a man of superior education, talents, 
and piety, said to us, that whenever he came into the presence 
of that woman, he felt that he, and not she, was the learner. 
At the same time he never saw an individual more humble 
and teachable than she was. In everything which pertains to 
‘the life of God in the soul of man,” he was conscious that 
her vision and experience far transcended his. 


OUR OBJECT IN GIVING THE ABOVE FACTS AND ILLUSTRA- 
TIONS. 


Our object in giving the above facts and illustrations has 
been one and the same, to wit: to impress this conviction, 
that all who receive this divine baptism —and without it none 
can fulfil their life-mission, or be duly prepared for the king- 
dom of light — all who receive this baptism, we say, do so in 
consequence of a previous compliance with the conditions on 
which God has promised the blessing. 

Speaking of this very gift, God says that “he will yet for 
this be inquired of by believers, to do it for them.” If we 
do not thus inquire, and “search for God with a@d/ the heart 
and with a7 the soul,” we shall never find him, or receive 
from him “the gift of the Holy Ghost.” “If the vision 
tarry,” and we do not “ wait for it,” it will never come to us. 

If Christ with the Father comes to us, manifests himself to 
us, and makes his abode with us, it will be because we keep 
his word, prepare his way before him in our hearts, and wait 
and watch for his coming as “those who watch for the morn- 
ing.” If our “bodies become the temples of the Holy 


112 BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 


Ghost,” if God shall “dwell in us and walk in us,” and care 
for and bless us as his “sons and daughters,” it will be be- 
cause his indwelling presence has with us a priceless value, 
and is sought as the soul’s supreme portion. 

Some are strangers to this baptism, because they never seek 
it atall. Others seek, but not “ with all the heart and with all 
the soul.” Others begin right, run well for a time, and then 
relinquish the pursuit. Others, still, dedicate themselves fully 
to Christ, as they suppose, pray for the Spirit, and then wait 
to experience the effect.‘ If the vision then tarries,” they be- 
come impatient, unbelieving, despondent, and give over fur- 
ther seeking and effort. 


This is a véry common and fatal error. We are to wait in - 
earnest seeking and prayer, until the promised baptism de- 


scends upon us. Look not backwards, but forward, until you 
‘behold with open face the glory of the Lord.” “In due 
time you will reap, if you faint not.” 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. ETS 


DISCOURSE VII 


MISCELLANEOUS SUGGESTIONS IN REGARD TO THIS 
DOCTRINE. 


Epu. iv. 28—‘‘ And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto 


_ the day of redemption.” 


WE now draw our discussion of this vital doctrine of Scrip- 
ture toa close. ‘There are certain topics of a general nature 
which will occupy attention in the present discourse. 


RECAPITULATION OF THE ARGUMENT. 


No careful reader of the Scriptures at the present time 
confounds the gift or promise of the Spirit with any mzracu- 
lous endowments. It is undeniable that these endowments 
had for ages been in the world, while the “ Holy Ghost was 
not given” until after “Jesus was glorified.” We are also 
positively taught, as we have seen, that “ the sealing and ear- 
nest of the Spirit ” were never accompanied, except in a few in- 
stances, by any form of miraculous gifts. ‘‘The promise of 
the Spirit” is to all believers in common. Miraculous gifts 
may, or may not, be imparted to any, and never were mn- 
parted but toa few. 

The only question in respect to which a difference of opin- 
ion does now obtain, pertains to the inquiry whether “the 
promise of the Spirit” is fulfilled after ox in the act of con- 
version. How any person who has examined the argument, 
as presented, can doubt upon the subject, is a mystery to us. 


114 BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHost. 


Permit us to direct attention to a few considerations which 
will set the subject in a concise but distinct form before the 
mind. 

1. Lhe positive testimony of the Bible. Tow distinctly, for 
example, is conversion and the baptism of the Spirit distin- 
guished in Tit. iii. 5 : “Not by works of righteousness which 
we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the 
washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost.” 
The gift of the Spirit does not imply conversion, but it does 
imply a renewal after conversion. In conversion we become. 
new men and women. Inthe baptism of the Spirit we become 
new Christians. So all believers who receive this baptism” 
are regarded by the Church and the world. 

In John vii. 39, we are undeniably taught, that “the Holy 
Ghost was not given” until after “ Jesus was glorified.” Had 
no person ever been converted until after that event ? Were 
none of the Apostles Christians or converted men prior to 
the Pentecost ? What, then, is the meaning of such declara- 
tions of our Saviour as the following ? — “ Now ye are clean 
through the word which I have spoken unto you;” « They are 
not of the world, even as I am not of the world ;” “Thine they 
were, and thou gavest them me ; and they have kept thy 
word ;” “ And the glory which thou hast given me, I have given 
them.” These were undeniably converted men ; yet none of 
them had at that time “received the Holy Ghost.” “The 
Comforter had not come unto them.” | 

Were none of “the more than five hundred _ brethren” 
who saw Christ after his resurrection, and none of “the one 
hundred and twenty disciples,” “who continued with one ac- 
cord in prayer and supplication with the women, and Mary, 
the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren ” — were none of 
these Christians or converted persons until after the Pentecost ? 
What must we think of a dogma that cannot be true unless 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 115 


none of these individuals were real disciples? If anything 
is or can be evident from the Bible, all these, with no known 
exceptions, were men and women of God. 

Then we have the positive testimony of the Bible, that the 
gift of the Holy Ghost is not in, but after, conversion. What 
can be more specific than is Eph. i. 13, on this subject ? 
“In whom ye also trusted, after ye heard the word of truth, 
the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, after ye be- 
lieved, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise.” 

What is the meaning of the question, ‘‘ Have ye received 
the Holy Ghost since ye believed?” if all are sealed 77, and 
not after, conversion? What was the meaning of the Apos- 
tles in praying for, and laying their hands upon acknowledged 
converts, that they might “receive the Holy Ghost,” if that 
gift had already been conferred when they were converted? 
The sacred historian affirms absolutely that many individuals 
in Samaria were converted through the preaching of Philip, 
and that “‘upon none of these had the Holy Ghost fallen” 
until Peter and John subsequently visited them. 

2. The doctrine here maintained, permit us to say, in the 
next place, is much more reasonable in itself than that to 
which it now stands opposed. In conversion, the attention of 
the sinner is directed almost exclusively to his sins, to the 
penalty incurred by sin, and to Christ, as a Saviour from sin. 
He knows nothing of the Christian life and calling, and his own 
special mission as a believer in Jesus. 

With the former it is well that his attention should be 
mainly occupied for a season. Soon, however, he begins to be 
oppressed with a conscious want of “likeness to the divine 
image,” and with utter insufficiency for the responsibilities of 
his new and divine mission. How wise in the great Head of 
the Church to hold in reserve, and to present to his faith by 
promise, a baptism which shall be conscious to him, a divine 


116 BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 


testimony of having received the mind that was in Christ, an 
earnest of his future inheritance, and an “‘ enduement of power 
from on high” for his life mission. 

Were this baptism given in conversion, and not “after we 
have believed,” its nature and purpose could not be compre- 
hended, and its most essential benefits would be lost. “As 
high as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are God’s 
ways higher than our» ways, and _ his thoughts than our 
thoughts.” 

3- The zendency of these two views, as realized in actual 
experience, presents us with another test by which we may 
very clearly discern which accords with “the law and the tes- 
timony.” To the following statements we are quite sure there 
are no exceptions ; 

Those believers who regard “ the promise of the Spirit” as 
realized in conversion, and consequently do not seek and ob- 
tain the “sealing and earnest of the Spirit” “after they have 
believed,” invariably find their religious life portrayed in the 
seventh chapter of Romans; while all who do seek and ob- 
tain “the gift of the Spirit” after their conversion, read their 
inward life in “the glorious liberty of the sons of God,” por- 
trayed in the eighth chapter of the same epistle, and in other 
parts of the Bible. We never in our life met or read of an 
exception to these statements. 

Remember, reader, that when Christ uttered these words: 
‘He that believeth on me, as the Scripture hath said, out of 
his belly shall flow rivers of living water,”— that “this he spake 
of the Spirit, which they that believe [had not, but] should re- 
ceive, because the Holy Ghost was not yet given.” You can 
never have that promise fulfilled in your experience until you 
have first believed, and have afterwards been “ sealed with 
the Holy Spirit of promise.” 

- This doctrine of the fulfilment of the promise of the 


. BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 117 


Spirit in conversion, and not “after we have believed,” should 
be regarded by us as a most dangerous and hurtful error. It is 
an impenetrable cloud drawn between the Church and ‘the 
glory which was to follow the sufferings of Christ.” The dis- 
ciples, when in a deep sleep, might as readily have beheld 
Christ transfigured on the Mount, as can an individual, stand- 
ing behind this error, “behold with open face the glory of the 
Lord, and be changed into the same image from glory to: 
glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” 


CAUTIONS TO THOSE WHO HAVE NOT YET RECEIVED, BUT 
ARE SEEKING THIS BAPTISM. 


Individuals who set their hearts upon obtaining this anoint- 
ing not unfrequently find themselves perplexed with certain 
difficulties and temptations, which beset their inquiries and 
prayers — perplexities arising from their inward experiences, 
and from doubts brought to their minds from without. Permit 
us to drop certain cautions to individuals who are in this 
state. 

1. Avoid, let us say in the first place, all attempts to form 
conceptions of the manner in which this baptism will come 
upon you, or of your special experiences under its power. 
Christ told his disciples that they should “receive power” 
when “the Holy Ghost should come upon them,” and to 
‘tarry in Jerusalem until they were endued with power from 
on high.” Of the manner in which the Spirit should be given, 
of the special forms of their inward experiences and outward 
lives after they should be ‘filled with the Holy Ghost,” he 
left them in blank ignorance. 

Had they, instead of spending their time in preparing their 
hearts, dedicating their lives, and waiting in prayer and sup- 
plication for the impending promise, perplexed their minds 
with the inquiries, 4ow will the Spirit be given, and what will 


118 BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 


be the effects ; we doubt whether the promise would ever have 
been realized in their experience. Let no such thoughts 
have place in your minds; but seek, and search, and watch, 
and pray, until “the Comforter is sent unto you.” Then, as 
you “read the precious scriptures with new eyes,” when you 
“behold with open face the glory of the Lord,” when faith in 
Christ fills you “with joy unspeakable, and full of glory,” and 
when “ your fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son 
Jesus Christ,” then, and not till then, will or can you have 
this knowledge. 

2. Our second caution and admonition is this: Donot be 
perplexed or alarmed at your own inward experiences, your 
emotive states especially, while seeking this baptism. Indi- 
viduals are often startled and perplexed by the disclosure to 
their consciousness of forms of internal corruption, “secret 
faults,” and evil tendencies and habits, the existence of which 
they had hardly suspected. At times, also, they may be ap- 
palled at their emotive insensibility, while clouds and thick 
darkness cover their entire spiritual horizon. 

No such internal experiences should induce doubt or alarm. 
God is preparing his own way in the soul, and the glory of his 
manifestation will be proportioned to the thoroughness with 
which ‘ the fountains of the great deep” of the soul have been 
previously broken up. The inward experience of the soul dur- 
ing the preparatory process is often like the appearance of 
a house at the time of the annual or semi-annual cleansing. 
All is confusion and disorder, and everything covered with 
dust and dirt. The prudent housewife is not alarmed or per- 
plexed at the visibilities around her. She foresees universal 
order and purity as the final result, and knows that all things 
are tending to that desired consummation. 

For the same reason, none of the experiences to which we 
have referred should move the soul who is seeking ‘the re- 


‘St a 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 119 


newal of the Holy Ghost.” Only let your heart be fixed. Put 
away sin as it appears, dedicate all to Christ, and seek, and 
watch, and pray, until God shall come and make “your bodies 
temples of the Holy Ghost.” é 

3. Our last caution is this: Do not be alarmed at the ¢ime 
occupied in this preparatory process. ‘The apostles and their 
associates waited more than forty days for “the promise of the 
Father.” Do not wonder if you have to wait through even 
a longer period. God is purifying you, preparing you, and 
trying you, to see whether you will or will not “seek him with 
all your heart, and with all your soul,” and that with all ‘“pa- 
tience and perseverance.” He will fulfil his promise in you, if 
you do not “become weary and faint in your minds” while 
seeking him. 


. POSITIVE COUNSELS AND ADMONITIONS TO ALL WHO ARE 
SEEKING THIS DIVINE ANOINTING. ~ 


We are now fully prepared to consider certain positive 
counsels and admonitions to all who are seeking this blessing. 
Among these, we would direct special attention to the follow- 
ing : 

1. Settle fully, definitely, and finally, in your own minds, 
‘whether there be any Holy Ghost,” any special baptism, 
‘sealing and earnest of the Spirit,” any special ‘‘ enduement 
of power from on high,” any ‘‘ renewing of the Holy Ghost,” 
to be expected and sought by believers, and assured to them 
by divine promise, after ‘they have believed in Christ.” If 
God has given no such promise, it is presumption and vain in 
us to plead it at the throne of grace. | 

If God has given such a promise, and we are not fully as- 
sured of the fact, we shall seek for the blessing in a hesitating, 
doubting, and double-minded state, which will prevent our 
“receiving anything of the Lord.” First of all, then, “be 


120 BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 


fully persuaded in your own minds” whether God has, in fact 
and form, given such a promise. When you find that he has 
done so, and you will thus find, if you carefully and prayer- 
fully ‘‘ search the Scriptures whether these things are so,” then 
place yourselves before the promise, as an immutable truth of 
God. | 

2. While you, in fixed purpose of heart, separate yourselves 
from all sin, and unreservedly dedicate yourselves to Christ, 
never, for a moment, after that entertain a doubt of your 
acceptance with God, or of your title to all the privileges of 
the sons of God, until you are conscious of taking that conse- 
cration back. Our faith in the promise, and of our interest in 
it, will be weak and unsteady, while we doubt of our sonship. 
God affirms absolutely, that when we thus give up sin, and 
accept of Christ, we are, and shall be, ‘accepted in the be- 
loved.” 

When you are conscious of thus giving up your sins, and 
dedicating yourselves to Christ, hold yourselves immutably as 
children of God, and as having a direct and personal interest 
in all the promises. Never suffer your mind to doubt or waver 
on this question. 

3. From’ that moment, contemplate your title to “the 
promise of the Spirit” as absolute, and that by virtue of your 
faith in Christ and sonship with God. ‘‘ The promise zs to 
you.” Hold it up before your own heart, and before the 
throne of grace, as such. Never permit your assurance here 
to waver for a moment; you are in covenant relations with 


Christ, and Christ is bound to you, by covenant, to ‘‘send . 


to you the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost.” 

4. Finally, while you thus place yourselves, as sinners 
“saved by grace,” within the circle of ‘the everlasting cove- 
nant,” continue to search and enquire, and wait and pray, and 
pray and wait, until “‘the Holy Ghost shall fall upon you.” 


a a 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 1Bt: 


Continuing thus ‘in prayer and supplication,” “God wiil 
do exceeding abundantly, above all that you ask or think.” 
You ‘will be filled with the Spirit,” and God will become “ the 
everlasting light of your souls.” Only be steadfast in faith, 
enduring in patience, and persevering. and instant in prayer, 
and ere long ‘your light will go forth as brightness, and your 
salvation as a lamp that burneth.” 


THE DISCIPLINE OF THE SPIRIT. 


Individuals who receive “the sealing and earnest of the 
Spirit” sometimes find their inward experience not to accord, 
in certain important respects, with their prior anticipations. 
They fail to keep in mind, that God is “leading them in a 
way which they know not,” and that the Spirit cannot do for 
them all that they need, unless he leads them through many 
and diverse forms of external and internal experience. The 
present is preparatory to an endless future. That this prepara- 
tion may be fully consummated, the Christian virtues, in all 
their endlessly diversified forms, must be fully developed and 
perfected. 

Each virtue takes form only under specially adapted cir- 
cumstances and influences. That character may be “ perfect 
and entire, wanting nothing,” ‘‘ patience must have her perfect 
work.” Patience is the outgrowth of endurance under the 
pressure of heavy responsibilities, ‘fiery trials,” and “great 
tribulations.” It would not be wisdom or love on the part 
of the Spirit to free us from those “trials of faith” requisite 
to our perfection in the highest forms of Christian virtue. 

“‘Fverlasting consolations and good hope through grace’ 
can come to the soul but when it is burdened with some great 
sorrow. The Spirit will not spare us the latter, when we must 
be led through it to reach the former. Victory, “ through the 
blood of the Lamb and the word of his testimony,” implies 

6 


122 BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 


prior conflict with temptation. ‘To prepare us for “a crown 
of glory which fadeth not away,” that to eternity we may 
stand revealed as having been “ more than conquerors through 
Him that loved us,” he will constrain us to “ fight the good 
fight of faith,” and to “stand in the evil day.” In short, we. 
are to expect, under the teachings and discipline of the Spirit, 
just those forms of external and internal trial requisite to the 
development and perfecting in us of all forms of Christian 
virtue. 

The believer, also, is not only being fitted for immortality, 
under the leadings of the Spirit, but is to be employed in this 
world for special missions for the edification of the Church 
and the good of mankind, and is constantly being fitted for 
the exigencies of his divine calling. No individual can be 
prepared for such a work without being led through many and 
diverse forms of experience, both joyful and afflictive. 

Paul had great perplexity and trouble through “the thorn 
in the flesh.’ That trouble, however, resulted not only in 
immortal benefits to him personally, but in infinite good to 
the Church and the world. By means of the discipline through 
which he then passed, he was fitted for a higher sphere of 
influence and usefulness than was otherwise possible to him. 
By means of the divine consolation which he received in all 
his tribulations, he was rendered “able to comfort them who 
were in any trouble, by means of the comfort wherewith he 
was comforted of God.” 7 

Every trial of faith, successfully endured, not only increases 
and consolidates virtue, but redoubles power for every good 
word or work. Now the Spirit is disciplining all who have 
been “ endued with power from on high” for higher and higher 
and for special forms of influence and usefulness, and will lead 
them through every phase of experience requisite to these 
high ends. 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 123 


We need to keep all these facts in mind. Otherwise we 
may not only fail to walk in, but may quench, the Spirit, and 
thus put out the light of our souls. When we open our hearts 
to receive the Spirit, we give ourselves wholly up to him, to 
be moulded, guided, and disciplined by him, not according to 
our ideas, but in absolute accordance with his infallible knowl- 
edge of our diverse necessities, and the equally diverse exigen- 
cies of our sacred calling. 

But while our experiences under the guidance of the Spirit 
may, and will be, in the respects referred to, endlessly diversi- 
fied, in certain other respects equally fundamental they will 
be fixed and permanent. In every “ trial of faith,” « patience 
will have her perfect work,” because “as our day is so shall 
our strength be.” In every conflict with the world, the flesh, 
and the powers of darkness, we shall be “more than conquer- 
ors.” In every furnace of affliction we shall “learn obedi- 
ence from the things which we suffer.” When “troubled on 
every side,” we shall “not be distressed ; when “ perplexed,” 
we shall “not be in despair ;” when “persecuted,” we shall 
“not be forsaken ;” when “cast down,” we shall “not be 
destroyed ;” when “weak, we shall be strong ;” and even 
when “bearing about in our bodies the dying of the Lord 
Jesus,” ‘the life also of Jesus will be made manifest in our 
bodies.” 

Nor will the light of God ever go out in our hearts. Our 
peace in Him, our conscious sonship with God, our acquies- 
cence in his will, our deep content under every allotment of 
providence, our quietness and assurance, our “ fellowship with 
the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ,” and our “everlast- 

ing consolations and good hope through grace,” will never be 
interrupted. We shall “serve God without fear, in righteous- 
ness and holiness before him, all the days of our lives.” 

Nor will our emotive experiences be without their raptures. 


124 BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 


In seasons, not few, nor far between, there will be “‘the shout- 


ings of a king” in the centre of our hearts. “Visions will 


come and go.” This side of the celestial city, “‘the glory of 
God will shine” in our hearts, and “the Lamb be the light 


thereof.” “Our joy will be full’ Remember, reader, “all: 


things are possible to him that believeth.” ‘Have faith in 
God,” and “you shall be established.” 


TEMPTATIONS AND ERRORS INCIDENT TO THIS HIGHER LIFE. 


Every state of man, the Christian, as well as the worldly 
life, has its peculiar and special inward temptations, and its pe- 
culiar and special liabilities to attack from worldly and satanic 
influences from without. Every advance in the divine life, 
from the nature and circumstances of the case, subjects the 
mind to forms of temptation and trial not incident to the 
same life in its lower developments. When the mind receives 
“the sealing and earnest of the Spirit,” it has new and higher 
power than ever before, for every form and exigency of the 
Christian life and warfare ; but is subject, as before, to peculiar 
and special forms of trial and temptation. 

To be prepared to meet such trials and temptations, we need 
to understand our state and relations when we have received 
the Holy Ghost. In this state, for example, we are not free 
from all Ziability to sin; nor are we released from the necessity 
of watchfulness and prayer against temptation to sin. We 
may quench and “grieve the Holy Spirit, whereby we are 
sealed unto the day of redemption.” All warnings and ad- 
monitions of the New Testament indicate the truth of these 
statements. 


Nor are we free from liability to error on subjects not essen-. _ 
tial to the purity and perfection of the Christian life. Paul and. 


Barnabas were both “good men, full of faith, and of the Holy 


Ghost.” Yet they differed in judgment in respect to Mark, — 


; : / 
—— oe 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 125 


and separated in their mission on account of that difference. 
Both were honest, and Paul was wrong, and afterwards in his 
epistles did full justice to Mark. When on his last journey 
to Jerusalem, he met with disciples who admonished -him, 
“through the Spirit,” that “he should not go to Jerusalem.” 
Yet he went, “ bound in the Spirit, to Jerusalem.” Nor did 
they, in’ what they said, nor he, in what he did, grieve or 
quench the Holy Spirit. On such subjects, the Spirit does not 
impart infallible guidance. Ona very few questions in Moral 
Philosophy and Theology, Brother Finney and myself have 
arrived at opposite conclusions. Yet eaclr has the same assur- © 
ance as before, that the other is “full of faith, and of the Holy 
Ghost,” and never were our mutual love and esteem stronger 
than now. We differ just where minds under the influence of 
the purest integrity, and the highest form of divine illumina- 
tion, are liable to differ. 

We may be “ full of the Holy Ghost,” and pressed beyond 
measure to utter the truths which are burning within, “as a fire 
shut up in our bones,” and yet have need of circumspection, 
and be liable to error in regard to the ¢mes and seasons when 
we shall prophesy. To this liability the Apostle refers, 
when he gives directions how those who are under divine 
illumination must conduct in the Church assemblies, affirming 
that “the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets ;” 
that ‘‘ God is not the author of confusion, but of peace ;” and 
that ‘‘all things must be done decently, and in order.” Nor 
does the gift of the Spirit supersede the necessity of educa-_ 
tion and careful study. Timothy had received this gift. 
Yet Paul exhorts even him to “give attendance to reading,” 
to “meditate upon these things,’ and to “study, to show 
himself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to 
be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” What, then, 


126 BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 


are some of the errors and temptations incident to this higher 
life? They are evidently, among others, the following : 

1. Zemptation to Spiritual Pride. 

Every believer who receives the gift of the Spirit becomes 


a new Christian, renewed in the essential elements of the. 


inner and outer life, and has a form of life which will attract 
the attention of the Church and world. “His righteousness 
will go forth as brightness, and his salvation as a lamp that 
burneth.” Hence the danger of making self the object of 
thought and conversation, and of thinking and speaking of self 
in the spirit of self-glorification. It is proper, and a duty, to tell 
others of what the Lord has done for us, provided the su- 
preme motive is, not to glorify self, but to magnify the grace, 
and love, and saving power of Christ. When the mind be- 
gins to revolve about self as its centre, it ceases, to the same 
extent, to revolve about Christ ; and when it glories in self, 
it ceases to glory in the cross of Christ, and will soon be the 
object of divine reprobation. 

2. Spiritual Presumption. 

When the power of the Spirit comes upon us, we walk 
forth in “the liberty of the sons of God,” and have a sov- 
ereign control over all our propensities, and all forms of 
temptation. In such liberty, we are liable to forget ‘‘ wherein 
our great strength lieth,’ to relax in our watchfulness and 
prayer, and thus our hearts are exposed to “the fiery darts 
of the evil one.” When in this liberty, we must ever keep in 
mind that ‘we stand by faith,’ and must “not be high- 
minded, but fear.” We must gird ourselves with the whole 
panoply of God, and “watch unto prayer,” if we would 
‘stand in the evil day.” 

3. Mistaking the true and proper sphere of divine teaching 
and wlumination. 

Where the Spirit is given, and we begin to “read the 


~ ear Ea 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 127 


precious Scriptures with new eyes,’ we may be tempted to 
undervalue all other forms of knowledge, and to neglect 
study, and all proper use and cultivation of our own powers. 
In the whole process of the spiritual life, we are “laborers 
together with God.” Divine teaching does not. supersede 
study and research in us, any more than our own proper 
activity supersedes divine teaching. 

We have known individuals who have attained to the 
highest forms of the Higher Life afterwards ‘make ship- 
wreck of the faith,’ by assuming that they were infallibly 
taught all forms of revealed truth, and then bitterly denounc- 
ing as unspiritual, worldly, sensual, and devilish, all who 
questioned any of their nudest absurdities. We have known 
individuals, once deeply spiritual, by imperiously placing 
themselves above all need of human teaching, under the 
claim that they were taught of God, manifest the most proud, 
boastful, fanatical, and hateful spirit and character of which 
we can conceive. 

We have known ministers of bright promise, and who were 
once “full of faith, and of the Holy Ghost,” to become 
empty and void in their own hearts, and utterly powerless 
with the Church and world, and that because they relied upon 
divine teaching, to the neglect of study, inquiry, watching 
unto prayer, and the diligent use and cultivation of their own 
faculties. The best and safest state possible to us is to ‘re- 
ceive the Spirit,’ and “walk in the Spirit.” The worst and 
darkest state into which we can fall is to have the light of 
God kindled in our hearts, and then to quench it. 

If you, readers, shall “receive the Spint,” and ‘walk. in 
the light, as God is in the light,” you will continuously “be- 
hold with open face the glory of the Lord, and be changed 
into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit 
of the Lord;” you will, as ‘the sons and daughters of the 


128 BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 


Lord Almighty,” ‘stand perfect and complete in all the will 
of God;” every virtue, in its purest and divinest develop- 
ments, will take form in your character —the virtues of faith, 
love, hope, charity, patience, meekness, gentleness, goodness, 
truth. ‘Giving all diligence,” you will ‘‘add to your faith, . 
virtue ; to virtue, knowledge; and to knowledge, temper-. 
ance ; and to temperance, patience ; and to patience, godli- 
ness ; and to godliness, brotherly kindness ; and to brotherly 
kindness, charity ;” and after you have finished your work of 
fruitfulness, goodness, and duty, ‘an entrance shall be min- 
istered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of 
our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.” But if at any time you 
shall lack these things, it will be because you have become 
“blind, and cannot see afar off, and have forgotten that you © 
were cleansed from your old sins.” If you continue thus 
blind and forgetful, “God will have no pleasure in you,” and 
Christ will “take your part out of the Book of Life.” 

4. Pride of character — pride which manifests itself in an 
unwillingness to confess error, or sin when actually com- 
“mitted, is another form of temptation, against which all who 
attain to this Higher Life should be, in a special form, 
on their guard. With the Spirit in our hearts, we need not 
sin, but we may sin. We may even “grieve” and “quench 
the Holy Spirit of God.” Should we sin, there is but one 
way to escape the consequences, and recover what we have 
lost — “ repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord 
Jesus Christ.” Yet the reputation which we possess, and 
the profession fve make, will present a strong temptation to 
cover, instead of confessing, our sins. 

Let the strictest integrity always be manifested right here, 
and God, if we have sinned, will “restore to us the joy of his 
salvation, and uphold us by his free Spirit,” and never “take 
the Holy Spirit from us.” So, when we err in judgment —and 


» 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 129 


the Spirit does not render us infallible, except in matters 
essential to “life and godlines” —let our meek humility 
always manifest itself in a prompt and ingenuous confession of 
the fact. We shall, in such a case, never fail to ‘serve 
God unto all pleasing.” 


CONCLUSION. 


We here, as far as the discussion and elucidation of doc- 
trine are concerned, draw this treatise to a close. Other 
topics of fundamental importance connected with the whole 
subject will be presented hereafter. If the reader has de- 
rived as much benefit in the perusal of these discourses thus 
far, as the author has in their preparation, and from the 
great truth which they are designed to elucidate, he and your- 
self, no doubt, will have cause of mutual thanksgiving for an 
eternity to come. ‘The eclipse of this great doctrine ever has 
been, and ever will be, to the Church, an eclipse of her faith 
on the one hand, and of her vision of “the glory of God in 
the face of Jesus Christ” -on the other. 

The unveiling of this doctrine to the vision and faith and 
heart of the Church will be to her “the brightness of her 
rising,” to which Gentiles and kings, and the ends of the 
earth, shall be drawn. If these discourses and other teach- 
ings, together with the life experience of the author, have done 
anything to forward the coming of that light, this will be his 
eternal joy. The movement of the sacramental host has 
been, hitherto, with glorious exceptions, very much that of a 
dead march, a funeral procession. Our favorite hymns have 
breathed notes of sorrow and sadness, rather than those of 
gladness and deep joy. We have made a virtue of speaking 
and singing of our groanings under the heavy yoke of sinful 
propensities, of “aching voids within” — voids induced by the 
remembrance of ‘peaceful hours” once enjoyed, but long 

6* » 


130 BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 


since passed away, and sighings after “the blessedness we 
knew when first we saw the Lord.” That dawning blessed- 
ness seems to present the highest idea of Christian joy of 
which the mass_of believers have a conception. 

For ourself, ever since that good hour when we “ beheld - 
with open face the glory of the Lord,” we have had no form 
of experience answering at all to the woe-notes breathed 
through such hymns. “The days of our mourning are 
ended.” So will yours be, reader, when through the illu- 
mination of the Spirit you shall comprehend, as you may, 
‘‘what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the 
Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Nor is 
the day distant, when Zion, too, ‘will cease her mourning.” 
Yes, the time is near when “the redeemed of the Lord shall 
return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy 
shall be upon their head ; they shall obtain gladness and joy, 
and sorrow and mourning shall flee away.” 

We all, reader, shall enter into that blessedness as soon as 
the way of the Lord is prepared in our hearts. If you 
‘‘have not received the Holy Ghost since you believed,” and 
have read this treatise without the conviction that such a 
blessing is yours by promise, then an impenetrable veil hangs 
between you and all the blessedness of the Higher Life. If 
the reading of this treatise has induced in your mind the con- 
viction, that you may be ‘sealed with the Holy Spint of 
promise,” and you go on your way, without making the at- 
tainment of this crowning blessing of the Christian life your 
fixed and immutable purpose, you will, for less than “one 
morsel of meat,” part with your birthright to “the glorious 
liberty of the sons of God.” 

If, on the other hand, you have found that ‘“ these things 
are so,” and from this moment onward shall watch and wait 
and pray, until Christ shall “send the promise of the Father 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 131 
upon you,” then will you, also, ‘comprehend the breadth, 
and length, and depth, and height, and. know the love of 


Christ, which passeth knowledge, and be filled with all the 
fulness of God.” 


132 BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 


DISCOURSE VIII 


THE FOUNTAIN OPENED FOR SIN AND FOR UN- 
CLEANNESS, OR THE CLEANSING POWER OF 
THE SPIRIT. 


ZECH. xiii. 1 —‘‘In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David 
and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness.” 

Titus iii. 5 — “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according 
to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy 
Ghost.” 


THE FIGURE EXPLAINED. 


In Palestine and surrounding countries, the people, in 
ages past, were in great peril from a want of water — a want 
occasioned by either of two circumstances — drought, or the 
besieging of cities, and the cutting off of the usual supply of 
said element by encircling foes. Hence it was that the 
greatest pains were then taken by the inhabitants of cities 
exposed to such evils, to provide against them. 

The method quite commonly adopted was to have dug out 
in the solid rock, beneath the surface on which such cities 
were built, vast reservoirs, which, in periods of rain, were 
filled with water and then sealed up, so as to be preserved 
pure until times of extremity should come. ‘Then they were 
opened to quench thirst, and for external cleansing. 

In searching amid the ruins of such cities, vast rows of 
such fountains or reservoirs are found. Some of these 
fountains are from one to three hundred feet deep, and as 
many in diameter. When a city was well furnished with such 


2 t 
i 
Pe 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 133 


sealed fountains, they would be to all the inhabitants a source 
of great blessedness, because there would be seen in them 
abundant security against evils which were certain to impend 
at some time. 

When the ordinary supply of this one universal necessity, 
water, was cut off for either of the reasons assigned, then all 
hearts would be turned with intense desire to the sealed 
fountains within the city, and the opening of the same would 
be the object of one common, all-pervading prayer to the 
public authorities to whose control said fountains were sub- 
ject. While the keeping of those fountains closed at such 
periods would be the subject of general sorrow and regret, 
the opening of the same would be as the first note of the 
trump of jubilee to the people. In the event, conscious 
deliverance from two forms of death would be experienced — 
thirst within; and uncleanness, breeding pestilence, without. 

Sometimes, when the fountains were opened, it would be 
found, to the amazement and horror of the expectant multi- 
tude, that through some fissures in the rocks the waters had 
escaped, and the fountains were dry within. ‘These were the 
‘broken cisterns,” or fountains ‘ that could hold no water.” 
Hence it is that these fountains afford some of the most beau- 
tiful and impressive figures found in the Scriptures. When, 
for example, a person was to an individual a source and 
cause of great serenity, peace, and consolation, and at 
the same time the object of most endeared affection, the 
former would be said to be to the latter “‘a fountain sealed ;” 
‘a fountain sealed is my beloved unto me.” | 

When individuals were subject, from any cause, to very 
great joy and triumph, or to great deliverances from impend- 
ing death or crushing calamities, the cause of such joy and 
deliverance was compared to a fountain opened during the 


134 BAPTISM OF TIIE HOLY GHOST. ~ 


straits of drought, or of siege. ‘Thou wilt open unto him the 
fountains of life.” 

As, in the land of oppressive heat, water, cool and fresh, 
welling up from the heart of the earth, was a general and over- 
shadowing want, and as the water thence obtained was, in it- 


self, more refreshing than the rain-water drawn from the hewn _ 


rock fountains, invaluable as the latter were in times of ex- 
tremity, when any object was to the mind the source and cause 
of the greatest conceivable good, such object was compared 


to “a fountain of living water.” On the other hand, when an 


object had been to the mind the source and cause of the 
highest hope, and had flagrantly wrecked and disappointed 
the same, such object was compared to a “broken cistern,” 
a fountain opened in time of pressing extremity, and, to the 
horror of the expectant multitude, found empty. 

When an individual was seen abandoning that which would 
be to him the source of the highest good, and pursuing with 
eager haste that which would be to him the cause of certain 
ruin and death, he was compared to one who “‘forsakes a 
fountain of living water, and hews out to himself a broken 
cistern, that can hold no water ;” as if a man should refuse to 
taste of living water welling up from a perennial spring near 
him, and was seen laboriously striving to hew out for himself, 
in a visibly shelly and split rock, a cistern, to catch the rain- 
- water that might be made to run into it from the clouds 
above. 

THE FIGURE APPLIED. 

The way is now prepared to appreciate and apply the im- 
pressive figure in which the redemption of Christ is set before 
us in the text, together with the attitude of the heart of the 
Church in respect to that redemption, as the latter-day glory 
dawns on. The text, you will bear in mind, sets before us, in 
one and the same figure, the salvation of Christ, in what may 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 135 


be denominated its objective and subjective relations; that is, 
that salvation as it is in itself, and the state of the heart rela- 
tively to it, when Christ becomes “ the power of God and the 
wisdom of God unto salvation to the believer.” 

In itself, whether men avail themselves of it or not, that 
salvation is “perfect and entire, wanting nothing.” It con- 
tains and reveals provisions, full and complete, for all the moral 
and spiritual necessities of the soul. These provisions be- 
come efficacious to this end, however, when, and only when, 
the soul, conscious of its spiritual necessities, and supremely 
desirous to be wholly free from the condemnation and 
power of sin, sees in Christ a sovereign remedy for this death- 
plague of which it is death-struck, and comes to Him, and 
trusts in the provisions of His grace, as the ‘“ fountain opened 
for sin and for uncleanness.” 

Think of the inhabitants of an Eastern city in a time of ex- 
treme drouth, when the living fountains and weils with in and 
around are completely dried up ; or in the straitness of a siege, 
when all water-courses are stopped up, or turned aside by 
the encircling foe. In this state, every one is perishing with 
a burning thirst within, and terror-stricken with the apprehen- 
sion of the all-pervading presence of the death-plague from 
uncleanness without. | 

In the sealed fountains within the city, there, and there 
only, is a sovereign remedy for both these forms of impend- 
ing death. One desire now pervades all minds in common, 
and one prayer goes up to the ruling authorities. It 1s, 
that these fountains may be opened to save the people from 
death within and death without. When those fountains are 
opened, what a universal rush is there to them, to obtain those 
waters of life! and with what eagerness are they applied to 
quench the burning thirst within, and for external purifica- 
tion ! 


ae4a§ BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 


Such is the state of the heart relatively to the provisions of 
grace in Christ, when they become efficacious for the pardon 
of sin, and for moral and spiritual purification. When the mind 
is divided by the attractions of things seen and temporal, and 
drawn by “the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and. 
the pride of life,” away from God, and holiness, and heaven ; 
when self-righteousness or unbelief closes the avenues of the 
heart to Christ and the Spirit of grace — then these provisions 
of grace in Christ for the salvation of the soul have no more 
efficacy for this end than if they had no existence at all. Christ 
is then to the soul, not as a fountain sealed, or a “ fountain 
opened for sin and for uncleanness,” but as such a fountain — 
closed. 

When preached by inspired wisdom, Christ was “‘ to the Jew 
a stumbling-block, and to the Greek, foolishness,” because the 
‘¢ Jew sought for a sign, and the Greek for wisdom.” That is, 
each held in supreme regard something incompatible with the 
outgoing of the heart in a supreme desire and choice toward 
Christ and his salvation. ‘To every one that believeth, on the 
other hand, He was, and He is, “‘ the power of God and the 
wisdom of God unto salvation,” because that all such appreci- 
ate the infinite value of His grace, and seek it in him with all 
the heart and with all the soul. 

Such is the salvation of Christ in its subjective and objec- 
tive relations — its relations, we repeat, as it isin itself, and as 
it stands related to the heart when it really and truly becomes 
‘‘a fountain opened for sin and for uncleanness.” When 
Christ is formed within the soul, the hope of glory, and when, 
with perfect quietness and assurance, it reposes in Him rela- 
tively to all future necessities, receiving everlasting consola- 
tion and good hope through His grace, then He is to such 
_mind a ‘fountain sealed.” 

When one all-overshadowing desire possesses the mind, a 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 1387 


desire to be wholly free from the condemnation and power of 
sin, and in a state of perfect purity, to be “‘filled with all the 
fulness of God;” and when in Christ it apprehends a present 
and perfect-completeness in respect to all its desires and ne- 
cessities — then Christ is to the soul ‘‘a fountain opened for sin 
and for uncleanness.” Then the soul realizes a present Christ 
addressed immediately, and fully, and specifically to every 
susceptibility and want of its immortal nature. 

It is to a state of hunger and thirst for righteousness within 
the soul, to an inward panting and crying out of the whole in- 
ner being for God and the light of his countenance, that God’s 
‘“‘ exceeding great and precious promises” are addressed — the 
promises by which we become “ partakers of the divine na- 
ures’? 

When all the susceptibilities of the soul are filled to the full 


and preoccupied with worldly attachments — attachments in. 


compatible with the body’s becoming the temple of the Holy 
Ghost ; when worldly pride, and the spirit of self-righteousness 
and unbelief repel the approach of ‘the doctrine of Christ 
crucified for our redemption’ — then the individual who “ rea- 
sons upon righteousness, temperance, and a judgment to 
come,’ commends to the perishing sinner the cup of salvation, 
or tells to a cold-hearted professor, or a backslider in heart, of 
full redemption in Christ, ‘‘for sin and for uncleanness ;” the 
speaker appears to the hearer as a mocker. 

‘In our cities are various reservoirs, the contents of which 
are in reserve in case of fire. What if the authorities should 
open these, and invite the people to approach and quench 
their thirst, or for external purification. You would regard 
your rulers as demented. Your wells and your cisterns are 
filled with living or pure cloud water. You have no liking for 
the filthy water in the reservoirs referred to, and you would 
condemn as an insult an invitation to partake of them. 


« 


138 BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 


With almost or quite similar feelings do men regard the 
provisions of grace for their redemption. They esteem it 


quite meritorious, if, for once a week, when convenience 


serves, they attend upon the services of the sanctuary where 


these provisions are urged upon their acceptance ; while the. 


majority of men contemn even so much regard for sacred 
things as that. 

But suppose God should send a drought, in which all mois- 
ture should be burnt out of the earth beneath, and the atmos- 
phere above and around you. Your wells and cisterns and 
rivers are dried up, and your lakes, even, have become stag- 
nant pools of death-poison. One want presses upon the peo- 
ple— water. Even the street water in your reservoirs would 
then be regarded as of priceless value. 

But suppose that the public authorities should now open 
sealed fountains, filled with the pure liquid which the clouds 
and dews of heaven had rained down among you. How would 
you then regard the cry, ‘Ho! every one that thirsteth ! come 
) ye to the waters!” With similar feelings, do men regard the 
provisions of life in Christ, when they become conscious of 
their real condition as sinners; and it is, we repeat, to this 
poverty of spirit, this inward cry for the waters of life in 
Christ, that the invitations and promises of grace are addressed. 


MEANING OF THE WORDS, ‘‘IN THAT DAY.” 


We now advance to a very important inquiry, to wit ; what are 
we to understand by the declaration, ‘‘ In that day there shall 
be a fountain opened to the House of David, and to the inhabi- 
tants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness” ? The text im- 


plies, that the time is coming when the Church is to attain to a . 


new form of experience in Christ—a form of experience not 
- common, and by no means general in any preceding age. “In 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 139 


that day there shall be a fountain opened.” There is great 
meaning in these memorable words, “that day.” 


THE MEANING OF THE PROPHECY. 


Let us inquire for the meaning of this prophecy. In Him- 
self, and in the intrinsic fulness, completeness, and efficacy of- 
the provisions of grace in Christ for all the wants of the soul, 
“Christ is the same yesterday, and to-day, and forever.” “Ye 
are complete in Him,” will hold equally true of the Church, as 
far as Christ’s power to save is concerned, at any one moment 
from the beginning to the end of time, as at any other. In 
consequence of a change of relations of the heart of the 
Church, however, He may be to her in degree and in ful- 
ness a Saviour such as he had never before been. 

Such a change did occur in the experience of the disciples 
and primitive Christians at the Pentecost, and such a change 
does, in fact, occur in the experience of all believers when 
they “have received the Holy Ghost, after they have believed.” 
Prior to this consummation, the vision of truth is dim, and 
the faith of the soul takes but a feeble hold of things unseen 
and eternal. As a consequence, the evidence of justification 
is obscure, and but small degrees of virtue proceed from 
Christ for moral and spiritual purification. 

To do, or to endure, the soul has but very little strength ; 
and with feeble, and oft-slipping footsteps, it treads its weary 
way in the paths of obedience and of life. In such a twilight 
of divine illumination, there is hope ; but doubt oftener predom- 
inates than assurance. There are, also, joys and consolations ; 
but not “peace as a river, and righteousness as the waves of 
the sea.” ‘There is rather more of doubt than of hope, of fear 
than of assurance, and “an aching void within the soul,” 
rather than “joy unspeakable and full of glory.” 

But when the Holy Ghost falls upon the believer, and his 


140 BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 


soul is “filled with the Spirit,” in that baptism of fire, of love, 
of light, and joy in God, there is a cloudless apprehension of 
truth, and every truth apprehended has a transforming power 
upon the heart and character. The face of God, the love of 


Christ, ‘‘the glory of God and of the Lamb,” are unveiled to. 


the open vision of the mind. “We all, with open face, be- 
holding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into 
the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of 


the Lord.” Hope dispels doubt, and assurance banishes — 


fear. Weakness gives place to strength, strength in God to 
do and to endure “all the good pleasure of His goodness, 
even the work of faith with power.” 

Instead of an aching void within, there is an infinite fulness 
—wells of “living water springing up into everlasting life.” 
“The sun is no more our light by day, neither for brightness 
does the moon give light unto us ; but God is unto us an ever- 
lasting light, and our God our glory. Our sun does no more 
go down, neither does our moon withdraw itself; but God is 
our everlasting light, and the days of our mourning are ended.” 
In other words, there is in that day “a fountain opened to 
the house of David, and to the inhabitants of Jot for 
sin and for uncleanness.” 

Now it is to this higher form of experience and attainment, 
this baptism of fire, of love, of power, and of spiritual purifica- 
tion, this outpouring of the Spirit promised to the Church in 
these latter days, that special reference is had in the text. 
You will observe, that itis to “‘the house of David, and to the 
inhabitants of Jerusalem” — that is, for believers within, and 
not for sinners without, the circle of the Church, that the foun- 
tain here referred to is to be opened. 

In the context we read, that the time of the fulfilment of 
this prophecy is to be a period of great moral and spiritual 


power and might in the Church: “ He that is feeble among . 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 141 


them at that day shall be as David, and the house of David 
_ shall be as God, as the angel of the Lord before them.” It 

is also to be a time of total moral and spiritual purification : 
“In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, 
Holiness unto the Lord.’ Prior to that event, the instances of 
such high attainments would be few and far between. ‘Then, 
this is to become the common experience of the Church uni- 
versal. 


THIS NEW ERA THE THEME OF ALL THE PROPHETS. 


This era of universal and total purification in the Church, 
this era of mighty power for the subjection of the world to the 
reign of Christ, is the theme of all the prophets, “when they 
testify before him of the sufferings of Christ, and of the glory 
that was to follow.” The Revelator denominates its introduc- 
tion, ‘the marriage of the Lamb.” “Let us be glad, and re- 
joice, and give honor to him; for the marriage of the Lamb is 
come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was 
granted to be clothed in fine linen, clean and white ; for the fine 
linen is the righteousness of the saints.” Referring to this era 
of divine illumination, God, through the prophet Isaiah, thus 
addresses the Church: “Arise, shine; for thy light is come, 
and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee, _ For, behold, 
the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the 
people : but the Lorp shall arise upon thee, and his glory 
shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy 
light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.” 


WHAT HAS BEEN, AND IS TO BE. 

What a contrast in the state of the Church, as it has been in 
ages past, as it now is, and as it is to be in that day of light, 
and glory, and blessedness! Now, whatever of divine glory 
she possesses, is hardly recognized by the world, so feebly 


142 BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 


does her light shine. Then, that glory is to become visible 
_ and all-impressive to all the world — so visible, and so impress- 
ive, that the race shall be drawn from the gross darkness with 
which they are encircled, to the light which is radiated from the 
face and the throne of God upon the Church ; just as the peo- 
ple were drawn from the darkness of Egypt to the light which 
illumined the Land of Goshen. And then this era of illum- 
ination is never to be eclipsed. “The Lord shall be thine 
everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be 
ended.” 

In that day, according to the word of God through the pro- 
phet Jeremiah, God is to make a new covenant with His 
Church, and this is to be that covenant: “I will put my law 
in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts ;” that is, sanc- 
tify them permanently and wholly. “Then,” says God through 
the prophet Ezekiel, “will I sprinkle clean water upon you, 
and ye shall be clean ; from all your filthiness and from all 
your idols will I cleanse you.” 

Of the degree of sanctification referred to in all these prophe- 
cies, we are distinctly informed in Jer. 1. 20: “In those 
days and at that time, saith the Lord, the iniquity of Israel 


shall be sought for, and there shall be none ; and the sins of © 


Judah, and they shall not be found.” The prophet Joel refers 
to the same state of moral purification under the representa- 
tion of a universal diffusion of the Holy Spirit upon the entire 
body of believers: ‘‘And it shall come to pass in the last 
days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh” 
[upon the entire company of believers], “‘and your sons and 


daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see vis- - 


ions, and your old men shall dream dreams: and on my 
servants and on my hand-maidens I will pour out in those 
days of my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.” | 

No careful reader of the Scriptures can fail to perceive that 


ae 
re ~lppste 
ee 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 143 


the fountain referred to in the text is to be opened within the 
Church, and to and for believers as such ; that they all, having 
“washed their garments, and made them white in the blood 
of the Lamb,” may become, in Christ, ‘‘ perfect and entire, 
wanting nothing.” When the Church has thus attained, then 
will she become, in deed and in truth, a power in the world 
for its redemption. Ignorance and unbelief have hitherto 
kept the mass of believers straying in the wilderness with the 
flocks of Christ’s foes. There their “follies have filled them 
with weeping.” 

In all ages, there have been a few who “have known and 
have believed the love of God to them,” and thus knowing 
and believing, ‘their love has been made perfect.” To the 
entire mass of believers, however, Christ is to become “a 
fountain opened for sin and for uncleanness.” In that day 
and at that time, the love of all in common will be made 
perfect. 


WHEN IS CHRIST SUCH A FOUNTAIN TO BELIEVERS ? 


The most important inquiry suggested by the text here pre- 
sents itself, to wit: By what means and under what circum- 
stances will believers find in Christ this opened fountain? In 
other words, on what conditions does the grace of Christ, and 
the revelation of His glory and love, act upon the soul as an 
all-renovating power, emancipating it from “the bondage of 
corruption into the glorious liberty of the sons of God” ? 

We all know on what conditions and under what circum- 
stances Christ becomes a fountain opened to the sinner for the 
pardon of sin. Through the power of the Spirit in connec- | 
tion with external and internal influences, the creature is led 
to think on his ways. In thus thinking, he distinctly appre- 
nends the fact of his sin and of his hopeless ruin in sin. One 
want now presses upon him, and centres in itself the supreme 


144 BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 


desire of his soul, to wit: pardon and acceptance with God. 
In this state he opens the Word of God, and reads of Christ 
as the sinner’s friend, the sinner’s hope; or he meets with a 
Christian friend who points him to “the Lamb of God, who 
taketh away the sin of the world.” 

The Spirit now so presents Christ to the sin-burdened soul, 
that it apprehends in Him a present, immediate, and all-suf- 
ficient fulness for the ‘all-overshadowing want with which it 
is burdened. Christ is now to that mind a fountain opened 
for sin; that is, for pardon, full and free. This convert now 
meets some other sinner, and tells him of Christ as a Saviour 
from condemnation and the fear of death. That sinner, con- 
- vinced of his own sin, and ruin in sin, apprehends in Christ 
the needed redemption. Christ in the former becomes to the 
latter, as in the first instance, a fountain opened for sin. 
_ Whenever the soul apprehends in Christ a present fulness for 
any pressing necessity, then He is to that mind “a fountain 
opened” relatively to that want. 

Now, when the soul has found in Christ ‘a fountain 
opened” for the forgiveness of sin, and when the joy and 


peace of its first love has passed away, it begins to feel the — 


pressure of another want, more agonizing, if possible, than the 
first. It experiences an inward hunger and thirst for another 
blessing, more important even than pardon and the peace 
which the assurance of reconciliation with God can bring to 
the mind. It wants deliverance from “the bondage of cor- 
ruption into the glorious liberty of the sons of God.” It 
wants to be “pure in heart,” that it may ‘see God.” It 
wants to find in Christ, and in the Gospel of His grace, a 
power not only for pardon, but for moral and spiritual reno- 
vation. 

It reads in the Scriptures of an ‘“ eye-salve” by which we 
may see, and of an “anointing” by which we “know the 


‘. 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 145 


things which are freely given us of God.” It reads still fur- 
ther of Christ in the soul, “the hope of glory,” and of God 
dwelling in us and walking in us, and thus becoming “ our 
everlasting light,” while the “days of our mourning are ended.” 
It reads of a baptism of the Spirit—a baptism by which and 
in which “we all, beholding as in a glass the glory of the 
Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory,” 
and are enabled to “comprehend the breath, and length, and 
depth, and height, and to know the love of Christ, which 
passeth knowledge,” and thus be “filled with all the fulness 
of God;” and of a baptism of love, in which “our love 
is made perfect.” In the midst of such revelations, and 
in the presence of such “ exceeding great and precious prom- 
ises,” one desire possesses the whole being of the soul,— the 
desire to possess the fulness thus revealed to its faith and 
hope ; and in one inquiry its entire activities unite, — the in- 
quiry, ow and where can this fulness be attained ? 

To obtain an answer to this inquiry, the individual sets 
about a most diligent and prayerful research. He makes in- 
quiry of the most spiritual believers in the ministry and out 
of it, and reads the memoirs of such men as Brainard and 
Payson. But all in vain. The Bible is a sealed book. In 
it he finds no present Christ addressed to the one present 
want of his whole being. “ With strong crying and tears” he 
asks this single blessing of his Father in heaven — that he 
‘may know Him, and understand His way, and find grace in 
His sight ;” that he may possess and be filled with the righte- 
ousness after which he now so inexpressibly hungers and 
thirsts, and be “endued with the power from on high” for 
which he is now waiting with such intense expectancy. 

While thus praying, thus waiting, thus searching, thus 
hoping, and thus trusting, there is, through the Spirit, a direct 
manifestation of the glory, of the love, grace, and fulness of 


~ 


146 BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 


Christ to his mind. In Christ he apprehends a present avail- 
able and infinite fulness for every want of his immortal na- 
ture. The faith of the soul takes such an immutable hold of 
the strength and fulness of Christ, as to become, at once, 
“strong in the Lord and in the power of his might,” strong to ~ 
do and strong to endure, strong to think, strong to feel, and 
strong to act for Christ. ‘All things have become new.” 
Hope takes on the form of absolute assurance, and faith be- 
comes almost a vision of things unseen and eternal. The veil 
is taken away from the Word of God. From all of its varied 
revelations in common there well out “rivers of living water.” 
Every truth apprehended has a quickening, vitalizing, and 
renovating power upon the mind. In other words, the be- 
liever, by a way which he knows not, now finds in Christ, and 
in the gospel of his grace, ‘(a fountain opened for sin and for 
uncleanness.” 

Now this individual, thus, without learning, teaching, or help 
from others, led to Christ, begins to speak to others of 
“the riches of the glory of this mystery,” “ which is Christ in 
you, the hope of glory.” He speaks of Divine manifestations, 
of a “witness of the Spirit,” of “a shedding abroad of the 
love of God in the heart,” of a divine indwelling in the soul, 
of a “fellowship with the Father, and with his Son Jesus 
Christ,” of “everlasting consolations and good hope through 
grace,” and of “joy unspeakable and full of glory,” to all of 
which they are comparative strangers. Yet he speaks in a 
manner which renders them sensible of the fact, that ‘‘ what 
he hath seen and heard, that he testifies.” The hearing of 
such an experience awakens in them a thirst for these waters 
of life, and Christ, in this one mind, becomes to them “a 
fountain opened for sin and for uncleanness.” God shines 
- into one heart, and thus gives to all around “the light of the 
knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 147 


So, also, when the membership of any one church becomes 
thus washed and purified, and made white “in the blood of 
the Lamb,” Christ, in that church, becomes to all the churches _ 
and the world around “a fountain opened for sin and for un- 
cleanness.” Thus streamlet intermingles with streamlet, till 
the waters of life, issuing from multitudes of sanctified hearts, be- 
come, in accordance with Ezekiel’s vision, a mighty river that 
cannot ‘be passed over,” and ‘‘the redeemed of the Lord 
return and come with singing unto Zion, and everlasting joy 
upon their heads; they obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow 
and sighing flee away.” 


WHEN THIS SALVATION IS NEAR TO THE BELIEVER. 


You may now understand clearly, reader, when it is that 
you may regard yourself as standing upon the very banks of 
the river of life, where God is about to become the everlasting 
light of your soul. It is when, and only when, you have such 
a quenchless thirst for God, for holiness, and for the indwell- 
ing of the presence of Christ in your heart, that nothing else will 
satisfy you, or divert your thoughts or desire from this one 
infinite good, and when your. whole being is centred in the 
immutable purpose to attain it. When the disciples were “all, 
with one accord, in one place,” the set time had come when 
they were to be “ endued with power from on high.” Are you, - 
reader, in a similar state? ‘Then lift up your head: your 
redemption draweth nigh!” But if you have no such purpose 
or desire, remember that you have no lot or part in this 
matter. 


WHEN CHRIST IS IN ONE INDIVIDUAL, THIS ‘‘ FOUNTAIN 
OPENED” FOR OTHERS. 
You also perceive when and how it is that Christ, in and 
through one individual, becomes to others “a fountain opened 


148 BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 


for sin and for uncleanness.” It is not in the holding or the 
public advocacy of a form of doctrine or system of faith which 
accords with the truth that any one occupies this divine relation. 
It is, on the other hand, the holding and the advocacy of ‘the 
truth asit is Jesus,” and an inward experience and an outward 
life, which accords with that truth. Were we an inquirer after 
the higher life in Christ, one of the last individuals that we 
would go to for light upon the subject, would be one who 
holds and advocates the doctrine of full redemption, and yet 
knows nothing of that truth as an all-vitalizing and renovating 
power. The most pestiferous influence that can exist in any 
church and community, goes out from that individual who 
zealously advocates that vital truth, and yet connects such 
advocacy with an unholy and corrupt life. The brightest 
jewel in Christ’s crown of glory in any church, on the other 
hand, is the individual who holds and advocates that truth, and 
who has ‘received the Holy Ghost since he has believed.” 
In that individual, God dwells and walks, and Christ abides 
as an all-purifying, quickening, and life-imparting presence ; 
and through him, Christ and the provisions of his grace are 
perpetually revealed to the .Church and the world around, 
as “a fountain opened for sin and for uncleanness” — the 
divinest mission ever fulfilled by men or angels. 


WHEN ONE CHURCH SUSTAINS TO OTHERS THIS DIVINE RE- 
LATION. 

We also understand when it is that in any particular Church 
Christ is revealed to other churches, and the world around, as 
the fountain opened, of which we are speaking. ‘That revela- 
tion is not made in and through the creed, or through the 
ministrations of the Church, however accordant both may be 

‘with the truth of God. There is no more unvitalizing power 
on earth than resides ina dead orthodoxy. To the sinner 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 149 


pressing the inquiry, ‘“‘What must I do to be saved?” there is 
no spot where he is less likely to find the truth he seeks, than 
in that place where the truth, and nothing but the truth, is 
held, advocated, and preached, and where that truth is be- 
lied and neutralized by a dead faith in the ministry and mem- 
bership. To the inquirer after the higher life, there is no spot 
to him more dark than he finds in a church, and under a min- 
istry, where this soul-renovating and heart-vitalizing truth is 
held, advocated, and preached, but where it exists in no hearts 
as “a well of water, springing up into everlasting life.’ The 
very truth itself then becomes to such a mind a mass of dark- 
ness, and nothing else, being presented as having no efficacy 
for moral and spiritual renovation. To the revelation under 
consideration, in and through any given church, two condi- 
tions must be fulfilled. The truth as it is Jesus, in the first 
place, must be internally credited and openly advocated. It 
is “by the foolishness of preaching” that God saves those 
that believe. ‘Faith cometh by hearing.” In the next 
place, the power, and renovating efficacy, and peace-giving 
and joy-imparting influence of the Gospel, must be fully mani- 
fested in the inward experience and visible example of that 
Church. Then, indeed, will that Church be ‘a light in the 
world,” and ‘“‘ have power with God and with men.” Then, in 
and through such Church, will Christ be to all encircling chur- 
ches, and tothe world around, “a fountain opened for sin and 
for uncleanness.” And when the churches of our God in general 
shall be similarly illuminated, ‘‘washed and made white in 
the blood of the Lamb,” and all her membership are filled 
with the Spirit, and together “walk in the light of God,” then 
will the Gentiles come to her light, and kings to the “bright 
ness of her rising.” In all the world, the spot where one such 
church is located will be the brightest, and, “to all who look 


150 BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 


for salvation in Israel,” the most attractive, because that there 
the glory of Christ is revealed in this one divine relation. 


WHAT WILL HEREAFTER CONSTITUTE THE GLORY OR THE 
SHAME OF METHODISM. 


We may now clearly apprehend, we remark once more, 
what will hereafter constitute the glory or the shame of Meth- 
odism. The central article of her creed is the great central 
truth of the Gospel, to wit: full and free redemption in Jesus 
Christ. In the holding and advocacy of that truth, her ministry 
and membership glory before the world. In her early found- 
ers and favorite memoirs, Christ and the promises of his 
grace are fully and distinctly revealed to all her membership 
and to all the world as “a fountain opened for sin and for un- 
cleanness.” Now, if this denomination shall remain true to 
her heaven-descended mission, by continuing to hold and ad- 
yocate this great truth, and by a living faith shall exemplify its 
all-purifying influence, both before the Church and the world, 
this will be “her wisdom andher understanding,” in the judg- 
ment of all nations, who shall hear of this great salvation. But 
if she should renounce faith in this great truth, or cease to 
advocate it, and, above all, should hold it as a dead faith, in- 
stead of an all-vitalizing power, this would be her shame be- 
fore God and the world. When in all the churches, in the 
sense explained, “‘ there shall be a fountain opened for sin 
and for uncleanness,” then is the millennium near, even at the 


door. 


to he en ae ee ae 


, 4 + & 
i: sia My 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 151 


DISCOURSE IX. 


THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE SPIRIT.. 


Pui. ii. r— ‘If any fellowship of the Spirit.” 


2 Cor. xiii, 14 — ‘‘The communion of the Holy Ghost be with you all.” 
« Joun i. 3 — “And truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus 
Christ.” 


PECULIARITY OF JOHN AS A WRITER. 


The Apostle John is the only Old or New Testament writer 
whose productions have an avowed reference to his own per- 
sonal observation and experience. Of Christ he speaks so 
far only as he hath himself ‘“ seen, and heard, and handled, of 
the Word of life.” Of no forms of truth does he speak, but 
of those only which he has personally “ known and believed.” 
He speaks of no degree or form of spiritual attainment or 
experience, but such as have been fully realized in the interior 
of his own mind: “That which we have seen and heard. 
declare we unto you.” 


THE RANGE OF HIS EXPERIENCE. 


The range over which the experience of the Apostle con- 
ducts us is a very wide one, an experience which commences 
with that simple form of faith which results from “ seeing, 
hearing, and handling ” the visibilities of Christ, as ‘“‘ God man- 
ifestin the flesh,” and terminating in that divine anointing, that 
baptism of the Spirit, in which “love is made perfect,” “fear 
is cast out,” “joy is full,” and “the soul’s fellowship is with 
the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.” 


152 BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 


OBJECT OF THE APOSTLE IN MAPPING OUT HIS OWN EXPE- 
RIENCE. 

In mapping out before us his own experience as a believer 
in Christ, the Apostle had in view a fourfold end of infinite 
moment — that we may have, and “know that we have, eter- 
nal life,” that our love, with his, “may be made perfect ;” that 
with him we may “walk in the light, as God is in the light,” 
our “fellowship being with the Father, and with his Son Jesus 
Christ;” and that, as a final consequence, “‘ our joy may be 
full.” This fulness of joy all flows out of the state previously 
named — the state towards which real Christian experience, in 
all its forms, is tending, and in which it finds its ultimate con- 
summation —“ fellowship with the Father, and with his Son 
Jesus Christ.” In and by sin, man has lost this infinite good. 
The object of the whole plan of redemption is to recover fallen 
humanity to this one relation to the infinite and eternal mind ; 
and the work of redemption is fully consummated when, and 
only when, God thus becomes the everlasting light of the soul. 
This conducts us to the special object of the present discourse, 
whichis, to elucidate the great truth represented by the words, 
“fellowship with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ,” 
together with the kindred topics which circle round this truth 
in the passage before us. 


THE IDEA REPRESENTED BY THE TERM ‘“ FELLOWSHIP.” 


What then, we inquire in the first place, is the idea repre- 
sented by the term “ fellowship?” Evidently, a far higher idea is 
intended than mere companionship, the existence of two or 
more minds in the same locality, or the interchange of thought 
between such minds; or partnership, that is, co-operation for 
the promotion of common ends, and the participation of common 
interests, or indeed any form of mere external connection. 
All this, and far more, something infinitely higher, is repre- 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 153 


sented by this term. Two minds may be connected in the 
most endearing external relations, as husband and wife, for ex- 
ample; they may often interchange thoughts with each other; 
they may even co-operate together for common ends, and mu- 
tually partake. of common interests. Yet they may never, in 
the true and proper sense of the term, have fellowship, the one 
with the other. While thus related, there may be principles 
of repellency between them — principles which may render 
each to the other the object of inward aversion. 

Two minds, we will suppose, are brought together in the 
same locality, are associated in the pursuit of common ends, 
and become mutual participants of common interests. As 
they interchange thoughts, the one with the other, each finds 
in the other a character, spirit, and leading views and senti- 
ments wholly genial to his own. In their intercommunication 
there is a consequent sympathetic blending of thought with 
thought, feeling with feeling, sentiment with sentiment, and 
purpose with purpose ; an intercommunion, in which each be- 
comes to the other, as it were, another self, each making the 
other the beloved depositary of his own mental treasures, and 
each becoming a full participant of the other’s joys and sor- 
rows. This deep and sympathetic intercommunion, this 
blending of mind with mind, is represented by the term “ fel- 
lowship.” In this relation, minds are said to “make their 
abode” the one with the other, each finding its happy dwell- 
ing-place in the heart of the other. 


CONDITIONS OF FELLOWSHIP. 


The conditions in which any two minds can enter into re- 
lationships of real fellowship, now become quite manifest. 
There must be, in the first place, in connection with a com- 
mon medium of intercommunication, a unity of knowledge, 


views, feelings, and sentiments, in respect to some common 
ae 


154 BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 


objects of mutual interest and regard. We meet with an in- 
dividual, and find that no medium of intercommiunication be- 
tween us exists. However genial to each other our characters 
and mental states may be, there can be, while this medium is 
wanting, no intercommunication or fellowship, no blending of 
mind with mind, between us. Suppose this medium to be 
established, and that, as we come to know each other, it 


is found, that we have no objects of common interest and. 


regard, and no commo nsympathies on any subject. Real fel- 
lowship, in such a case, is absolutely impossible. If, on the 
other hand, the objects which one regards with supreme inter- 
est, the other regards with aversion, such minds will naturally 
repel each other, and no blending of heart with heart can occur. 
But if, ona mutual acquaintanceship, it is found that there is a 
union of views and sympathies in regard to leading objects of 
thought, and where each approves of the other’s relations and 
character, their minds naturally blend in the most loving in- 
tercommunion and fellowship ; and this is the idea repre- 
sented by the term under consideration. 


EXTENT AND LIMITS OF SUCH FELLOWSHIP. 


We are now able to determine clearly the extent and dim- 
its within which such fellowship is possible. So far as minds 
have common thoughts, common sympathies and experiences, 
so far they can have intercommunion and fellowship, 
one with another. If the knowledge and experience of one 
extend into a sphere which the other has not entered or 
traversed, so far all fellowship is barred, however mutually 


genial their characters and experiences, in other respects, — 


may be. In such cases, the fellowship of the latter may be 
constantly taking on new, and more endearing and happify- 
‘ing forms, as the wider visions and experiences of the former 
open and expand more and more upon the latter's mind. In 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 155 


‘fellowship with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ,” 
the soul will be eternally advancing, deeper and deeper, in- 
to “the fulness of God,” as God’s thoughts, God’s emotions, 
plans and purposes of love, shall expand more and more upon 
the mental vision. 


EFFECTS OF FELLOWSHIP. 


There is no form of blessedness, we remark in this connec- 
tion, so full and complete as that which results from the in- 
tercommunion and fellowship of pure and kindred minds, 
in respect to objects of deep and happifying mutual in- 
terest. Such a state is a fundamental demand of our social 
nature. Such is the strength of this principle, that we can en- 
joy hardly any form of good, when totally isolated from other 
minds. Joy departs, and leaves us desolate and sad, when we 
have no kindred minds to sympathize with, and share our 
blessedness. Such intercommunion not only intensifies our 
joys, but has sovereign power to turn our deepest sorrows 
into the most perfect and abiding forms of gladness. Minds 
in fellowship become possessed, to the full extent of their 
capacities, each of all the blessedness that dwells in the heart 
of the other. “In fellowship with the Father, and with his 
Son Jesus Christ,” the finite mind will, to the fullest extent 
of its ever, — growing capacities, be filled with all the blessed- 
ness that dwells in the infinite and eternal Mind. 

The most marked peculiarity, perhaps, of such fellowship, is 
the perpetual assimilation-of character which thereby arises 
between kindred spirits. When two minds are in such en- 
dearing intercommunion, the virtues and excellences of each 
are perpetually taking form and embodiment in the character 
of the other. A mind of lower, in fellowship with one of a 
higher, order, is being perpetually raised to the conscious 
possession of the superior excellences of the latter. “‘ He that 


w 


156 BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 


walketh with wise men shall be wise.” God, by bringing all 
sanctified spirits into fellowship with himself, will be eternally 
elevating them to higher and higher resemblances to his 
own infinite excellences, and to higher and higher fruitions 
of his own infinite blessedness. If we would, as required, be 
God-like in our character, we must seek and attain to that 
state in which “our fellowship shall be with the Father, and 
with his Son Jesus Christ.” 


FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD POSSIBLE. 


Here the question might arise, Is such intercommun- 
ion possible ? Can the finite enter into fellowship with the 
infinite? ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth, are 
not God’s ways higher than our ways, and his thoughts than 
our thoughts?” How, then, can we enter into Communion 
with God’s ways, and God’s thoughts? ‘With men, this is 
impossible. With God, all things are possible.” In the text, 
this ‘very fellowship stands revealed as an accomplished fact : 
“And truly our fellowship zs with the Father, and with his 

Son Jesus Christ.” With Moses, God “ spake face to face, 
as a man speaketh with his friend.” For “three hundred 
years, Enoch walked with God.” In chee “God was mani- 
fest in the flesh,” and “dwelt among us.” God, who knows 
perfectly the relations between the finite and the infinite, af- 
firms, that he does thus dwell with “the humble and contrite 
in spirit,” and that he ‘will dwell and walk” in such. “If a 
man love me,” says Christ, “he will keep my words: and my 
Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make 
our abode with him.” 

To consummate this fellowship, the Spirit is in the world, 
and is promised to all believers. He can and will, that 
we may possess and enjoy this fellowship, “strengthen us 
with might in the inner man,” and so reveal and manifest 


& 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 157 


Christ and the Father unto us, that we shall enter into real 
and ecstatic communion with God’s thoughts, emotions, pur- 
poses, and love. In elevating the creature into this divine 
fellowship, God does not oppress him with the full weight of 
his own infinity. ‘No man can see the face of God, and 
live.’ The Spirit knows how to bring, and he does bring, 
the soul into fellowship with those forms of divine manifesta- 
tion which it can comprehend and commune with, —a fellow- 
ship which may become real in the experience of every be- 
liever, the child as well as the man. 


FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD. WHAT IT IS. 


Let us now turn our attention directly to the wonderful 
form of speech before us: “And truly our fellowship is 
with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.” We read of 
a strange form of love conferred upon believers — a form of 
love, by which “we are called the sons of God.” We read, 
also, of a brotherhood with Christ, of a co-heirship with hin, 
and of our being “heirs of God.” Such forms of speech, 
however, represent merely the common privileges of all the 
saints, in all stages of their experience. The passage be- 
fore us refers to a still higher and nearer relation to God—a 
relation to which the believer attains when, and only when, 
he has “received the Holy Ghost after he has believed ;” 
when, by means of that divine baptism, he has been “cleansed 
from all unrighteousness,” has “‘been made perfect in love,” 
and “walks in the light, as God is in the light.” Then he 
comes into that relation of intercommunion with God — 
the relation properly represented by the term, ‘ fellowship.” 
You will observe that it is not said, that ‘our fellowship is 
with the Father, with the Son, and with the Holy Ghost, but 
‘with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.” It is not 
with the Spirit that the mind has direct intercommunion ; but 


158 BAPTISM OF THE’ HOLY GHOST. 


through the Spirit, with the Father and with Christ. The 
Spirit, when received, does not “‘ speak of himself,” but “ takes 
of the things of Christ, and shows them unto us,” and “ shows us 
ely of the Father.” ) “Where the Spirit of the Lord is,” 
‘we behold with open face,’ ’ not the Spirit, but “the glory of 
the Lord,” “the love of Christ,” and “the fulness of God.” 
When we have ‘received the Holy Ghost after we have be- 


lieved,” we comprehend what the Saviour meant when he - 
said, ‘‘ And this is life eternal, that they might £zow Thee, the © 


only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent;” 
what God means when he says, “I will dwell in them, and 
walk in them ;” and what the apostle means when he says, 
“And truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his 
Son Jesus Christ.” You have read, reader, of “‘ the commun- 
ion of the Holy Ghost.” Here it is: ‘ Christ in you, the 
hope of glory;” “(we will come to him, and make our 


abode with him ;” ‘“ walking with God ;” ‘God dwelling in 


us, and we in him;” and “fellowship with the Father, and 
with his Son Jesus Christ.” 

Let us see if we cannot form some apprehension, more or 
less distinct, of this peculiar state — the privileged state of-all 
believers. It will be our aim to tell all we know about it; all, 
we Beat that can be told in a few sentences in a single dis- 


course. | The mission of the Spirit, as we have said, is to bring ~ 


the al into direct and immediate intercommunion and fellow- 
ship with God. (T o believe that God exists, to apprehend his 
attributes, and to be assured that we are the objects of his love 
and favor; but to apprehend him as afar off, dwelling alone in 
his infinity, is one thing. ‘To be directly conscious of him as an 
immediate personal presence, encircling us with his own infin- 
ity and love, ‘showing us his glory,” and opening upon our 
vision an immediate apprehension of his thoughts, emotions, 
and purposes of love and grace in respect to us, and of his 


Bie ae anes 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 159 


deep sympathy with all our joys and sorrows, cares and inter- 
ests; to be conscious, when we pray, that we are “ speaking to 
God face to face, as a man speaketh with his friend,” and that 
his ear is bent tenderly towards us, in all our confessions, giv- 
ing of thanks, and petitions; and that all things within and 
around us, are full of God, and that we have our dwelling- 
place in the very centre of the divine fulness — this, certainly, is 
a very different relation between us and God, from that above 
described ; and all this is real in our experience, when “ our 
fellowship is with the Father.” So, also, to know that Christ 
died for us, and that through him “we have redemption, the 
forgiveness of our sins ;” but to apprehend him as away off, 
“at the right hand of God” in heaven, and never very nigh 
to us, and “formed within us, the hope of glory” — this one 
relation to Christ, the relation im which most believers find 
themselves, for the greater part of their lives. How different 
and opposite is that state, in which we are distinctly conscious 
of a present Christ addressed directly and immediately to 
every susceptibility and want of our immortal natures ; in which 
we “behold, with open face, his glory, and are changed into 
the same image from glory to glory ;” in which we “ compre- 
hend the breadth, and depth, and length, and height, and know 
the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge ;” in which Christ 
‘comes to us, and manifests himself unto us,” reigns in us, as 
the sovereign of all our affections and activities, and com- 
munes with us as an elder brother, strengthens us in our 
weaknesses, succors us in our temptations, confirms our faith, 
perfects our love, and teaches us the divine lesson of deep 
content in every allotment of providence. In such a state 
our fellowship is, also, with his Son Jesus Christ.) This is a 
very different state of thought, feeling, and activity from that 
realized in the first, and also in the too common develop- 
ments of the Christian life, and this is having “fellowship with 


160 BAPTISM OF TIIE IOLY GHOST. 


the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.” This is “ walking 
with God,” and “ dwell in God,” and having God “ walk in us, 
and dwell in us.” Here we realize what our Saviour meant, 
when he said: “I in them, and thou in me, that they may be 
made perfect in one ;” and ‘I will come in unto him, and sup 
with him, and he with me.” 


EFFECTS OF THIS FELLOWSHIP. 


In this divine intercommunion and fellowship, the mind is 
not free from temptation. In Christ, however, it realizes ‘the 
victory which overcometh the world.” Nor is the believer 
free from external affliction. But in the fire and in the flood 
‘patience has her perfect work.” This end being consum- 
_ mated, there comes to the mind, at-one time, a revelation of 
Christ, in the exercise of this one virtue, patient endurance and 
meek submission to the will of the Father. One desire now 
possesses the whole being — to endure as Christ endured, and 
with him, if need be, to be “made perfect through suffering.” 
Again there opens upon the mind a vision of the eternal 
future: ‘These light afflictions, which are but for a mo- 
ment, work out for us a far more exceeding and eternal 
weight of glory.” Now the mind “glories in tribulation,” 
while “the love of God is shed abroad in the heart by the 
Holy Ghost, who is given unto us.” 

Nor, we add again, is the mind in this state wholly, and 
at all periods, free from real heart-sorrow. At times, if need 
be, it “may be in heaviness, through manifold temptations,” 
or ‘‘ fiery trials.” God, for wise reasons, may now and then 
_ sound the depths of the soul with some great sorrow. In such 
a state, the mind, first of all, adjusts itself, fully and perfectly, 
to the divine will, losing self in the heart of God, and in sweet 
and unreserved acquiescence consenting to do, and to endure, 
and to sutfer a// that God wills. ‘Not as I will, but as thou 


ko 


a ee 


3 


ee 
eS oe ee oe 


&. 


aoe 


oe 


a 
oe 
toe 


P. 


v4 
~ 
ry 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 161 


wilt.” “The cup which my Father giveth me, shall I not 
drink it?” When “patience here has had her perfect work,” 
the Spirit at one time opens upon the mental and spiritual vis- 
ion distinct and melting apprehensions of Christ, as a world 
sufferer, a sufferer in Gethsemane; when climbing Calvary’s 
mournful mountain, and upon the cross ‘bearing the sins of 
many, and making intercession for the transgressors.” Here 
the mind forgets and loses its own sorrow, in its sympathy and 
love for Christ, in his infinite sufferings and sorrows. To sorrow 
now, to “fill out the measure of Christ's sufferings,” seems a 
privilege. At another time, in the depth of some great sorrow, 
there comes to the mind, a deep assurance and sense of God’s 
presence and love, and of the absolute security of all its inter- 
ests, under the divine protection; and all this with a distinct 
and soul-melting consciousness of the deep and present sym- 
pathy of every person of the Godhead, with every form and 
degree of sorrow with which the heart is burdened. “ Everlast- 
ing consolations and good hope through grace,” now fill and 
occupy the entire capacities of the soul, and “sorrow and 
sighing flee away.” 

At times, the way in which the mind is being led seems 
dark and gloomy. Here, the Spirit brings sweetly home to 
the heart such a thought as this : 


“* Christ leads #ze through no darker rooms 
Than #e went through before.” 


Such a thought dawns in with such sweet and mellow light 
upon the soul, that earth’s most shady places appear now as 
peaceful and hallowed precincts of heaven itself. How often 
have you dwelt in thought upon such words as these . 


‘¢ Jesus can make a dying bed 
Feel soft as downy pillows are, 
While on his breast I lean my head 
And breathe my life out sweetly there.” 


162 BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 


Yes, reader, and Jesus can make a living bed, a bed of thorns, 
too, feel equally soft and downy. Have you never, when 
weary with labor and care, when weighed down with the 
crushing burdens of vast duties, responsibilities, and perplexi- 


ties, or when overshadowed with some great sorrow — have you 


never, under such circumstances, had such a form of experi- 
ence as this? Jesus seemed to approach you, and to drop 
such words as these down into your heart: Child, you are 
weary, very weary, and sorrowful. Lean your head upon my 
bosom, and rest there. As you do lean your head upon the 
bosom of his love, his rest enters into your heart. This, you 
say, is the beginning of that “rest that remains for the people 
of God.” If the earnest is so peaceful, what must heaven be — 


heaven, in which “the Lamb which isin the midst of the throne . 


shall feed them, and shall lead them unto fountains of living 
waters, and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.” 
With a mind in fellowship with God, there are periods of 
triumph, when the fountains of the great deep of the soul are 
broken up, and when it “rejoices with joy unspeakable and 
full of glory.” At other times, the whole mental being res¢s in 
perfect quietude and assurance, ‘the peace of God, which 
passeth all understanding, keeping the heart and mind by 


Christ Jesus.” Then, in a state of “ heaviness through mani-_ 


fold temptations,” the soul appears ‘like patience on a monu- 
ment smiling at grief.” Again, under the baptism of “ power 
from on high,” it goes forth, “strong in God, and in the 
power of his might,” strong to do and to endure; or upon 
its knees in prayer, and under the outpouring of “the Spint of 
erace and of supplication,” ‘‘as a prince it has power with 
God and with men.” In every state alike, God is its fixed 
and changeless centre, God its dwelling-place, and God its 
everlasting light,” while “the days of its mourning are ended.” 
We do not think that we have overdrawn the experience of 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 168 


any soul whose “ feliowship is with the Father, and with his 
Son Jesus Christ.” 


FELLOWSHIP ONE WITH ANOTHER. 


In making a due improvement of this subject, we would 
direct attention, in the first place, to an important declaration 
found in the context, to wit: “If we walk in the light, as he is 
in the light, we have fellowship one with another.” Among 
worldly minds, there is very little real fellowship. Selfishness is 
incompatible with such relations, especially in their higher and 
more sympathetic forms. <A selfish mind sees very little in 
its own image, when reflected from the heart of another, to ap- 
prove or delight in, or in its own mental states with which to 
have fellowship —states such as pride, ambition, envy, covet- 
ousness, devotion to vanity, and the lusts of the flesh, when 
such states are reproduced in other minds. Hence, among 
such minds, there is very little that can properly be denomi- 
nated friendship. 

Among Christians, also, who have not ‘“ received the Holy 
Ghost since they believed,” ‘fellowship one with another”. 
can obtain but in a very limited degree. In all such minds, 
there is so much intermingling of the bad with the good, and 
of darkness with the light; such obscure reflections of the 
divine image and glory, together with the beauties of holiness ; 
and such meagre manifestations of the divine love; and at the 
same time thoughts of God.and of things unseen and eternal 
have so seldom and unillumined a dwelling-place in the heart, 
and the mind, as a consequence, has so few deep emotions and 
experiences — that it is only occasionally, and that within.a 
very limited sphere, that there can be that sympathetic blending 
of thought with thought, emotion with emotion, and heart with 
heart, that can properly be called fellowship. ‘This is the ex- 
clusive reason why Christian fellowship has such a limited and 


164 BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 


feeble existence in our churches. There is among them 
‘“envying, strife, and divisions,” because, for the most part, 
they ‘are carnal, and walk as men,” in other words, are ‘‘mere 
- babes in Christ.” There-is very little fellowship, because the 
basis for such intercommunion is wanting. 

When a company of believers, however, “have received the 
Holy Ghost since they believed,” and while each, under this 
all-renovating and all-purifying baptism, ‘‘ walks in the light, 
as God is in the light,” then, verily, they do “have fellowship 
one with another.” The reason is obvious. While perfect love 
banishes discord, each manifests a character that all approve 
and delight in, each reflecting upon all others ‘“ the image and 
glory of Christ.” Each, also, has a rich inward experience, 
into which the hearts of all the others naturally blend in 
sympathizing and ecstatic intercommunion. Brotherly char- 
acter manifested, is the exclusive object of brotherly love. 
Where the former is wanting, the latter, but in forms of general 
good will, cannot exist. 


OUR MORAL AND SPIRITUAL STATE, WHEN WE HAVE NOT 
DIVINE FELLOWSHIP. 

What should we think of ourselves, reader, if ‘“ our fellow- 
ship is not with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ” ? 
This we reply: Such must be the state of our hearts, that 
moral purity cannot approach them. ‘The pure in heart see 


God,” and “with the pure in heart God dwells.” If God — 


does not dwell with you, there can be but one reason for this 


melancholy fact. Internal impurity shuts him out. . ‘ God: 


never draws nigh to me when I pray to him,” said a profess- 
ing Christian to us, years ago. ‘‘Assoonas I kneel in prayer, 
he seems to remove himself to an unapproachable distance 
from me.” “Friend,” we replied, ‘there must be reasons of 
infinite weight for such relations between you and your 


’ ~ 
5 

# 
ae 
- 


-s 


: : Bs 4 “% “ * sa 
f - pe » 
RN ae ee. i ee ag oe 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 165 


‘Father in heaven.’ We exhort you, as you value your soul’s 
eternity, to find out those reasons, and to put them away.” 
A similar admonition would we present to you, reader, if God 
is not consciously very nigh to you when you call upon him, 
if your fellowship is not “with the Father, and with his Son 
Jesus Christ.” 


THE TWO CLASSES OF BELIEVERS ADDRESSED IN THE FIRST 
EPISTLE OF JOHN. 


To understand fully the epistle from which our last text was 
taken, we must recognize the two classes of believers to whom 
the Apostle, in fact, though not in form, refers, to wit: those 
who had, and those who had not, received ‘the unction of 
the Spirit ;” those who had, and those who had not, been 
‘made perfect in love ;” and, consequently, those who did, and 
those who did not, have “fellowship with the Father, and with 
his Son Jesus Christ.” Of the one class he speaks as having 
a full knowledge, by means of their anointing, of the fulness 
of joy to which he refers, and as having “no need” that “any 
one should teach them” upon the subject. His object in re- 
spect to the other class was, to draw them into the light of God 
in which he was walking: ‘That which we have seen and heard 
declare we unto you, that ye may have fellowship with us;” 
“These things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.” 
This last is our exclusive object relative to you, reader, if you 
have not yet received “ the anointing.” 


THE EXTENT AND LIMITS OF PRACTICABLE CHRISTIAN ATTAIN- 
MENT IN THIS LIFE. 


We may now understand the extent and limits of practicable 
Christian attainment in this life. They extend from the 
beginning, the childhood of the Christian life in Christ, to a 
full fellowship with the Apostle, in the perfect love, freedom 


166 BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 


from fear and heart-condemnation, and in that fulness of joy, 
which he possessed, when “ walking in the light as God is in 
the light,” and when his “ fellowship was with the Father, and 
~ with his Son Jesus Christ.” Nothing but unbelief in us can 
prevent our advancing onward and upward into the cloudless 
sunlight before us. ‘The Apostle has not only revealed to us 
the goal to which we may attain, but has made us know the 
way: ‘‘ We have known and believed the love that God hath 
to us” — the love of God in “ giving his Son to die for us,” and 
also in giving “the anointing” by which we know, too, “the 
things that are freely given us of God ;” “ Herein is our love 
made perfect.” To receive, with simple trust and assurance, 
God's testimony to his own love to us, and to seek, ‘with all 
the heart, and with all the soul,” ‘the unction of the Spirit,” 
through whose illuminations and sanctifying power we may 
‘‘walk in the light, as God is in the light” — this is the way to 
that Beulah of perfect love and fulness of joy, where ‘‘ God is 
our everlasting light, and the days of our mourning are 
ended.” Reader, the way is before us. Let us walk in it. 


iy 
7 
eS 
ay 

3 

- ‘ 
ee 
a 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 167 


DISCOURSE X. 


THE CONSOLATION OF THE SPIRIT, OR THE USES 
OF AFFLICTIVE PROVIDENCES. 


Isa. xlviii. 19 — ‘I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the 
furnace of affliction. 


THE FIGURE EXPLAINED. 


THIs one principle universally obtains in respect to the re- 
finement of metals, that the severity of the process requisite 
to their purification is proportionate to their preciousness. 
No metal can be brought to a state of purity but by a tnial 
of fire. Those of the least value can be melted and purified 
by comparatively small degrees of heat. Those of the high- 
est value can be refined but by being placed in the central 
fires of the glowing furnace when heated to the greatest in- 
tensity. Silver may be placed in the furnace, but the heat of 
the common crucible is all that is requisite for its highest 
purification. The meaning of the text, then, is obvious. 
God says to the sanctified believer, this class being especially 
here addressed: ‘“‘I have refined thee, but not with silver.” 
The virtues which I have purposed to develop in you being 
of all others the most precious, and of all objects of the 
supremest value in my estimation, I have subjected you to: 
the action of the central fires of the furnace of affliction — the 
furnace in which the brightest virtues of immortality are de- 
veloped, purified, and perfected. Because I loved you and 
saw in you an adaptation to become possessed of the brightest 


168 --BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 


and the best virtues that adorn my kingdom, I placed you, 
for your purification and perfection, in those central fires ; and 
because you there became the pure, and true, and beauteous 
thing I desired, I chose you, when you were in that furnace, 
as my own peculiar treasure, and you shall “be mine in that 
day when I make up my jewels.” There are some virtues 
which bloom up to maturity in circumstances of almost con- 
tinued prosperity, and freedom from the pressure of strong 
temptatation. Others, of a nobler birth, are matured and con- 
solidated under the weight of great trusts and responsibilities. 
But those which take on the brightest possible forms of beauty 
and perfection are those which are refined and purified amid 
the glowing and melting heat of the furnace of affliction. 


REAL EXCELLENCE THE RESULT OF ENDURANCE. 


It is an immutable principle of the divine government, that 
all forms of real excellence shall be the result of exdurance — 
endurance which severely tests and taxes the human faculties. 
A mind stands before you, a mind “ with Atlanteon shoulders, 
fit to bear the weight of mightiest monarchies.” How did 
that mind attain to such pre-eminence of power? It early 
began to think, to think strongly, and by long habituation to 
the endurance of the weight of great thoughts, it towered up to 
its present overshadowing greatness. Endurance which brings 
such visible rewards men subject themselves to from choice. 
They delight to continue in it, because their nature is adapted 
to it, on the one hand, and on account of the “great recom- 
pense of reward” resulting from it, on the other. The oppo- 
site in all respects obtains in regard to afflictive providences. 
They are objects of fear, and not of desire. They always 
come unsought, and descend upon the mind suddenly, as 
- crushing avalanches from the heights above us. And what is 
still more peculiar in respect to them is the fact that they are 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST, 169 


in themselves grievous burdens, with no visible or apparent 
benefits attending or issuing from them. Vet no events 
appear to come so directly and immediately from God as. 
these. They seem to drop down upon us immediately from 
his hand, crushing our fondly cherished hopes, smiting our 
persons till all our sensibilities quiver with excruciating agony, 
smiting also those most dear to us, and causing our hearts to 
bleed for sufferings we cannot relieve, and then taking from us 
even ‘the desire of our eyes with a stroke.” These provi- 
dences also most frequently, perhaps, strike that department 
of our nature most susceptible to suffering. How often do - 
we hear individuals exclaim, “ Anything but this! Why did 
God smite me in this one spot?” Yet, judging from appear- 
ance, God thus smites for no good reasons. What apparent 
good, for example, is there in that terrible bereavement by 
which the orphan is left, homeless and penniless, to the char- 
ity of this cold world? But, reader, it is amid the central 
fires of just such furnaces as these that the divinest virtues 
known in the universe of God are refined and perfected ; and 
those who are “made perfect through suffering” are the indi- 
viduals who stand nearest the eternal throne in the kingdom 
of light. 

This brings us to the subject of the present discourse, to 
wit: the divine uses of afflictive providences, acting, as they 
do, as disciplinary fires for the purification and perfection of 
the saints of God. 


AFFLICTIONS, WHEN BENEFICIAL. 


Before we proceed to a direct consideration of this subject, 
there is one thought to which very special attention is invited. 
( Afflictive providences are in themselves, as above seen, 
crushing evils coming upon us for no visible reasons, and ap- 
parently tending to no good results. To appearance, they 

8 


170 BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 


are death-strokes falling upon our sensitive natures. Whether 
they shall issue in life or death to us, depends wholly upon 
the moral state in which they are received and endured. If, 
while we are in the crucible or in the furnace, “patience has 
her perfect work,” we then become “ perfect and entire, want- 
ing nothing.” If, in the same circumstances, the mind loses 
its spiritual balance, becomes chafed and fretted, restless and 
despondent ; above all, if it loses hope and faith in God, then 
it loses its reward, and Satan takes its crown.) In the his- 
tory of the prophet Ezekiel we have a conspicuous example 
of a trial of faith successfully endured. God, through the 
prophet, desired to foreshadow to the nation the calamities 
which were impending — calamities so terrible, that even do- 
mestic bereavements, under their influence, would become 
matters of utter indifference; and God took this strange 
means to secure this result—to take suddenly from the 
prophet the wife of his youth, requiring him at the same time 
to move among the people as if no affliction had befallen 
him: 

- & Ajso the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Son of 
man, behold I take away from thee the desire of thy eyes 
with a stroke : yet neither shalt thou mourn nor weep, neither 
shall thy tears run down. Forbear to cry, make no mourning 
for the dead, bind the tire of thy head upon thee, and put on 
thy shoes upon thy feet, and cover not thy lips, and eat not 
the bread of men. So I spoke to the people in the morning : 
and at evening my wife died; and I did in the morning as 1 
was commanded.” 

In every afflictive providence that befalls us, we are always 
distinctly addressed by duty in some specific form — duty in a 
form more specific than in almost any other circumstances. 
- Now it is when we do the specific thing then and there re- 
quired of us, that we gain the virtues that ensure to us the 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 171 


crown of life. When racked with torturing pain, or smitten 
with domestic bereavement, we always hear in the depth of 
the soul the voice of God saying to us, “I have done this. 
Trust my will now, fully and distinctly ; consent to suffer and 
to endure, till I choose to remove the pain, or cease to be- 
reave ;” and we must “do as we are commanded.” If loss of 
temporal good befalls, or temporal perplexities encircle us caf 
disappointments drop down upon us, or ‘hope deferred 
makes the heart sick” — then God again speaks within, saying 
to us, ‘‘ Let your spirit now lie down and be still. Let no 
sentiment of discontent have place in your heart.” Here, 
also, we must ‘“‘do as we are commanded.” When revilings, 
and falsehoods, and persecutions for righteousness’ sake, en- 
circle and descend upon us, the same voice within calls us 
from strife to prayer, from cursing to blessing, and from 
wrath to love. When reviled, we must bless ; when defamed, 
we must entreat; and when persecuted, we must endure it, 
doing and enduring as we are commanded: “Hold fast Zi// 
I come, and I will give thee a crown of life.” Such is the 
command of the great Captain of our salvation. Holding 
fast, as required, we ensure the crown of life. F ailing in this, 
we miss that crown. 


AFFLICTIONS — THEIR SPECIFIC USES. 

We will now suppose that a believer has thus endured. 
What will be the divine uses of such providences in his expe- 
rience? ‘This is the question to which a specific answer will 
now be attempted. 


Affiictions render things unseen and eternal real to the mind. 


One of the most important of all these uses is the direct 
and immediate contact into which the mind is then brought 
with God, duty, redemption, and immortality. Continued 


172 BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 


prosperity, abounding wealth, and freedom from pain and 
afflictive bereavements too often induce, not only a forgetful- 
ness of God and of things unseen and eternal, but a proud 
denial of our accountability and dependence. When afflic- 
tive providences descend, on the other hand, thought is sud- 


denly arrested and fixed upon these objects of infinite con- 


cern. Under no other circumstances do they come so near, 
and give the mind such impressive opportunities and motives 
to adjust itself fully and rightly in respect to them. Philip 
of Macedon desired never to forget, in the midst of his super- 
abounding prosperity, the fact of his own mortality. Hence 
he appointed a herald, whose exclusive mission was to repeat 
in the hearing of his sovereign, every time the latter left his 
palace, the words: *‘ Philip, thou art mortal.” ‘ Now, afflictive 
providences are divine monitors, speaking to us with voices 
as from God out of heaven, reminding us of God, duty, death, 
eternity, redemption, and retribution ; and calling upon us to 
adjust the past, present, and future of our lives to these eter- 


nal verities. ) When the mind has thus adjusted itself, then. 


these truths have a power over the thoughts, feelings, mental 
and moral activities, such as they could not otherwise acquire. 
As a consequence, they have corresponding power to refine, 
purify, and bless the soul, and fully prepare it to receive those 
‘everlasting consolations” and immortal hopes, with which 
God is ready to fill the utmost capacities of our inner being, 
whenever the heart is prepared to receive them. How many 
individuals have occasion to say with the Psalmist, “It is 
good for me that I have been afflicted: for before I was 
afflicted I went astray. But now have I learned to keep thy 
precepts.” Thus it is that even in our afflictions ‘ God deal- 
eth with us as with sons,” first teaching us the lesson of obe- 
_dience, and then drawing us close, very close, to the bosom 
of his love. 


# < 7 
Be 2 . 


. 22 £> £46 


OF Aen Se 


cer 


y 
ar o 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 173 


Discipline the hnman to subjection to the divine will. 


We are all aware, also, that the highest purity and blessed- 
ness of the soul depend mainly upon the right adjustment of 
the will of the creature relatively to the will of God. N Ow, 
afflictive providences bring the human into a more direct, im- 
mediate, and impressive contact with the divine will, than any 
others. Let the creature learn obedience here ; here “let pa- 
tience have her perfect work,” and he “becomes perfect and 
entire, wanting nothing.” He that walks with God amid the 
consuming heat of the glowing furnace, and there fully con- 
sents to endure and to suffer all the will of God ; he that finds 
amid these central fires deep content, as his Spirit lies down 
in the centre of God’s will, and is still there — attains toa dis- 
ciplined consolidation in Christian virtue, which renders his 
acquiescence in the divine will, in all other relations, absolute. 
The soul, now, is permanently at peace with God, and, as a 
consequence, is fully prepared to be kept as permanently by 
“the peace of God, which passeth all understanding.” Chris- 
tian brethren, have you never had such a hallowed form of 
experience as this? A dark and impenetrable cloud came 
Over you, and completely shut you in. You could not pene- 
trate to the brightness which radiated from the upper surface 
of the cloud—the upper surface where its face is always 
turned toward the face of God. In the midst of the 
deep midnight around you, you dropped down into the 
centre of the divine will. Let me suffer now, your heart 
exclaims, let me suffer here, and anywhere, till God is fully 
satisfied. In this stillness of deep acquiescence, the first 
thought that begins to make melody in the depths of the 
soul, perhaps, is this: a moving apprehension of the szeef 
will of God. The sweet will of God, you begin to repeat, the 


174 BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 


sweet will of God. Let all my allotments be as God wills. 
Then there comes gently over you a sense of infinite security 
in God. The darkness around you is “but the shadow of his 
wing,” beneath which you feel yourself to be “ almost sacred.” 
God is “covering you with his feathers,” while beneath his 
wing you are fixing your trust, and resting there with perfect 
“quietness and assurance forever.” You know now, as you 
otherwise could not have known, that under the all-overshad- 
owing protection of your God, “no evil can befall you; 
neither can any plague come nigh your dwelling.” Light be- 
gins to penetrate through the cloud above you, till the deep 
midnight around becomes itself ‘all light, and its essence 
love.” The cloud above has become all luminous. Through 
it you seem to see the face of God, smiling with love ineffa- 
ble upon the face of your soul. You know now why God af- 
flicted you ; your perfection in virtue, and your consequent en- 
trance into the hallowed precincts of that rest which ‘remains 
for the people of God.” Such are the unvarying issues of 
afflictive providences, when, under their pressure, we “ do as 
we are commanded.” 


They strengthen and conpirm christian virtue. 


These providences, also, tend very peculiarly to strengthen 
and confirm the faith and hopeful trust of the soul in God. 
When our own power and resources visibly fail us, we naturally 
turn from self toa power out of and above ourselves. When 
finite confidences fall from under us, we are almost irresisti- 
bly impelled to lean upon the infinite. Now, afflictive provi- 
dences are those divine jostlings of the soul by which it is 
continually reminded of the power above, where our strength 
and safety lie concealed. As a consequence, they pre-emi- 
‘nently tend to induce the fixed habit of trust and hope in 
God. Did days of darkness never come, fulness of bread 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 15 


might induce forgetfulness of the Giver, and of dependence 
upon Him. Conscious weakness and want, however, centre 
and fix the faith and hope of the soul in the power and ful- 
ness of God, and the frequent exercise of those virtues confirm, 
settle, and strengthen the mind in the same, till faith and hope 
in God become immutably habitual in the inward experience. 
Now mark the result. Leaning upon the Infinite, the soul 
becomes “strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.” 
Trusting in the divine fulness, it receives of that fulness to 
the full measure of its conscious necessities. _Hopingin God, 
hope deferred does not make the heart sick, and that “be- 
cause the love of God is shed oes in the heart, by the 
Holy Ghost which is given unto us.” As hope and trust in 
Christ become the fixed habit of the soul, in all our necessities 
the angel of his presence strengthens us, as the angel of God 
strengthened him in the hour of his extremity. Every- 
where, and under all circumstances, “ the peace of God, which 
passeth all understanding, keeps our hearts and minds by 
Christ Jesus.” 


Impart assurance of hope. 


When the mind is put into the furnace of affliction, and 
learns obedience there, it attains, we remark, not only to a 
divine purity and acceptance with God, but also, in the next 
place, to a more distinct assurance of its own gracious state, 
than it can hardly obtain in any other circumstances. Under 
no other circumstances, as we have seen, is the will of the 
creature brought into such direct and distinct contact with 
the will of God. Nowhere else, as a consequence, can the 
mind be so distinctly conscious of absolute acquiescence in 
the divine will, and subjection to it, as here: ‘“‘ Not as I will, 
but as Thou wilt ;” “The cup which my Father hath given me, 
shall I not drink it?” The character of such hallowed mental 


176 BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 


exercises as these cannot be misapprehended. Hence it is, 
that, in the exercise of the same, the mind has an absolute 
consciousness of its own gracious state, and of its consequent 
acceptance with God. Now, this absolute assurance of the 
genuineness of our faith necessarily issues in corresponding 
assurance of hope: ‘And when tribulation has worked pa- 
tience [confirmation in Christian virtue] ; and patience, experi- 
ence [assurance of our own gracious state] ; and experience, 
hope,’ God never fails to lift upon the soul “the light of his 


countenance.” ‘ Hope,” we repeat, ‘‘maketh not ashamed, 
because the love of God is shed abroad in the heart, by the 
Holy Ghost which is given unto us.” That state of meek, 


mild, and quiet submission, which the patient endurance of 
suffering induces, fully prepares the mind to receive and ap- 
preciate God's manifested sympathy and love. The Holy 
Spirit now makes the soul distinctly conscious, that ‘in all 
our afflictions, God is afflicted, while the angel of his presence 
saves us,” and we know, as we otherwise could not have known, 
how deeply God sympathizes with us, and loves us. The 
light of God in which we now live and walk, sanctifies even 
the furnace through which we have been conducted, into this 
state of perpetual quietness and assurance, where “ the days 
of our mourning are ended.” 


Impart happifying visions of the eternal futnre. 


There are, also, certain visions of the eternal future, and of 
other kindred truths — visions which nothing but the patient 
endurance of afflictive providences can prepare the mind to 
receive, and which the Holy Spirit never fails to impart when 
‘¢ patience has had her perfect work.” Take the following as 
examples : 

“These light afflictions, which are but for a moment, work 
out for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” 


BAPTISM OF THE MOLY GUOST. 177 


‘s All things work together for good to them that love God.” 
‘¢ And God shali wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there 
shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither 
shall there be any more pain.” ‘They shall hunger no more, 
neither thirst any more ; neither shall the sun light on them, 
nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the 
throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto fountains of 
living waters.” ‘Who shall separate us from the love of 
Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or fam- 
ine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?” ‘Nay, in all these 
things, we are more than conquerors, through Him that loved 
us. For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor an- 
gels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor 
things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, 
shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in 
Christ Jesus, our Lord.” It is onlyas the mind passes through 
great tribulation, and becomes refined and purified in the 
midst of the same, that it can fw//y apprehend and appreciate 
the truths contained in such revelations as these — revelations 
which, when received, impart a fulness of joy otherwise im- 
possible to us. Whatever our condition may be, let the Holy 
Spirit but open upon the mind such visions of the soul's eter- 
nal future, and render them conscious realities to itsapprehen- — 
sion, and “ the days of its mourning are ended.” It is thus in 
genuine Christian experience, that our most enduring joys 
well out from our deepest sorrows, and our most abiding con- 
solations descend to us in the midst of our greatest tribula- 
tions, while the brightest hopes that gladden our hearts are 
‘‘born, like the rainbow, in tears.” 


They impart soul-satisfying visions of Christ. 
As your heart has been pressed down under the weight of 


some great sorrow, did the Holy Spirit never open upon your 
8* ; 


178 BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 


spiritual vision an apprehension of Christ as a world sufferer, 
of Christ in Gethsemane, in the judgment-hall, or upon the 
cross? In the presence of such a revelation, suffering and sor- 
row lose all power to distract the mind. On the other hand, 
they become sanctified in the mind’s apprehension, and to 
“fill out the measure of Christ’s sufferings” seems a privilege ; 
and when sorrow for Christ’s sake becomes a hallowed thing 
in the mind’s regard, how infinite does the joy of the soul in 
Christ become! Thus, as in our deepest humiliation we find 
ourselves farthest within the precincts of heaven, so in our 
greatest sufferings and sorrows do we behold most distinctly 
the face of God. Inthe furnace — strange kind of life that ! 
— “we walk in the light of God.” 


Develop the divinest virtnes in their divinest forms. 


We must not fail here to refer to the character of the di- 
vine virtues which are refined and perfected in the furnace of 
affliction. Nowhere else in the universe of God do we find 
such things of beauty as they. That meek submission, that 
subdued quietude of heart, that sweet and prompt turning of 
the soul to every indication of the divine will, that tender 
sympathy with suffering in others, and readiness “to heal the 
broken-hearted,” that deep and fixed trust in God, that se- 
renity of hope, that crucifixion to the world, that mild purity 
of thoughts and life, and above all, that fixed devotion to 
Christ —all these, blended in unison, render charactera thing 
of beauty and perfection that even God loves to look at. 
Now, when the mind comes into this state, it is then fully 
prepared to receive that fulness of joy for which God has. 
been refining and perfecting it. In entering into this state 
the leading sentiment which pervades its whole inner being is 
-what seems to be a feeling of infinite quietude and assurance. 
Then thoughts of ineffable consolation begin to drop down 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 179 


into the soul. Soon “visions of glory infinite come and go.” 
At length the sun of righteousness rises upon the soul “ with 
healings in his wings.” In the everlasting light of that sun 
which continuously comes nearer and nearer to the soul, it 
moves onward, wondering with unutterable wonder that God 
should thus deign to shine upon a worm of the dust. God 
comes to dwell in the soul, and to walk in it, and make 
his abode there. 


Teach the soul what sorrow and affliction mean. 


In such experiences, the soul comes to learn, at length, 
what sorrow and affliction mean. ‘They even become things of 
beauty tothe mind. ‘ We glory in tribulations, also; knowing 
that tribulation worketh patience ; and patience, experience ; 
and experience, hope; and hope maketh not ashamed ; be- 
cause the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the 
Holy Ghost which is given unto us.” 


Impart power for good to the Christian. 


Nor are the divine uses of afflictive providences confined 
to the subject who suffers. They fit him, as he otherwise 
could not be, to comfort them who are in any trouble, by the 
“comfort wherewith he is comforted of God.” And never 
has the religion of Christ such power over worldly minds as — 
when it is seen turning earth-born sorrows into heaven-born 


joys. 


WHEN HAS PATIENCE HAD ITS PERFECT WORK P 


Do you ask us, hearer, when it is that you may regard pa- 
‘tience as having had its perfect work in your experience ? We 
answer, when you are deeply conscious that your will is so 
perfectly identified with the will of God, that you have no 
wish to possess any more of earthly good than God has ap- 


180 BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 


pointed you, nor to diminish one jot or tittle of the full 
amount of affliction which he has allotted you. For ourself, 
we should regard it as infinitely criminal in us to entertain, 
for a moment, the wish that one throb of pain, one disap- 
pointed hope, a single bereavement, a single external affliction, 
that God appointed us, should fail to become real in our 
future of life, or to accomplish its divine mission in our 
experience. | 


HOW WE SHOULD REGARD OURSELVES WHEN AFFLICTED. 


We now understand the light in which we should regard 
ourselves when causes of great sorrow fall upon us. First of 
ally we should carefully inquire whether these providences 
have come down from God out of heaven, as judgments for 
wrong-doing, or as mere disciplinary trials of faith, and seek 
unto God accordingly. \In neither case should we lose heart, 
or hope, or faith in God. We should conclude, at once, on 
_ the other hand, whatever the immediate cause or occasion of 
our sufferings may be, that God sees in us something which he 
desires to refine and perfect into a thing of beauty and per- 
fection, for his own glory, and ours too; that he sees in us 
undeveloped capacities for good —capacities which he desires 
to perfect for the reception of those great and eternally en- 
during joys, which he has prepared for us. Why should we 
be afraid of causes of sorrow, when, if we hold fast our in- 
tegrity and faith in God, they are only the birth-throes of 
everlasting consolations, and deep and ever-enduring joys 
otherwise impossible to us. 


HOW A TRULY SANCTIFIED MIND COMES TO REGARD AFFLIC- 
TION. 

We now understand how a truly sanctified mind, one fully 

disciplined in “the furnace of affliction,” comes at length to 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GIOstT. 181 


regard such providences. ‘To such minds, such providences 
are “clouds of glory, coming from God who is our home ”— 
clouds of glory, tinged all around their surfaces with light in- 
effable, and spreading over us the shadow of God’s wing, be- 
neath which, as we have said, we feel ourselves almost sacred. 
As light breaks through the cloud, and sweet and melting 
thoughts begin to gladden the heart, and everlasting conso- 
lations one after another drop down into the depths of the 
inner being ; as the light of the divine countenance is lifted 
up, and the sympathizing, loving smile of God becomes the 
feast of the soul — it exclaims, “‘ Lord, it is good to be here ;” 
and if God should so will, it would build its tabernacle and 
make its abode in this consecrated spot. 


ALL THE ABOVE EXEMPLIFIED IN THE EXPERIENCE OF PAUL. 


Perhaps some of our readers may be inclined to the senti- 
ment, that in the present discourse the picture has been 
overdrawn ; that what has been presented never has been, 
and never can be, realized in actual experience. To test the 
question, let us go back, for a few moments, some eighteen 
hundred years, and speak with Paul upon the subject. You 
see him yonder, as he sits resting for an hour. He sits there 
in his chain, by the side of the soldier who keeps him. Let 
us approach him. How pale, and wan, and weary he looks! 
and yet what a halo of deep and abiding joy beams from his 
countenance and encircles his brow! Permit us to address 
him now, in your behalf. Paul, we have heard much of that 
wonderful life and experience of yours, and have come to 
converse personally with you upon the subject. Will you 
impart to us the information we desire? With all my heart. 
But where shall I begin? Tell us first about your suffer- 
ings. Well, “I think that God hath set forth us, the Apos- 
tles, last, as it were appointed unto death; for we are made a 


182 BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 


spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and unto men.” 
“ Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, 
and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwell- 
ing-place.” ‘We are made as the filth of the world, and are 
the offscouring of all things unto this day.” But among the 
many who, in common with our divine Lord, have been 
made ‘perfect through suffering,’ I have been “in labors 
more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more 
frequent, in deaths oft. Of the Jews five times received I 
forty stripes, save one. ‘Thrice was I beaten with rods ; once 
was I stoned; thrice I suffered shipwreck ; a night and a day 
have I been in the deep; in journeyings often, in perils of 
waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of mine own country- 
men, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils 
in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false 
brethren ; in weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, 
in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. 
Beside those things which are without, that which cometh 
upon me daily, the care of all the churches. Who is weak, 
and I am not weak? Who is offended, and I burn not?” 
But, Paul, what has been your state of mind in the midst 
of these suffermgs? ‘As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing ; 
as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet pos- 
sessing all things.” ‘Ihave learned, in whatsoever state I 
- am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, 
and I know how to abound; everywhere and in all things I 
am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound 
and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which 
strengtheneth me.” 

But when you see that “the foxes have holes, and the 
birds of the air have nests,” and in common with your divine 
Master, you ‘‘have not where to lay your head;” when you 
see other men dwelling in princely mansions, clad in costly 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 183 


array, and faring sumptuously every day — do you not some- 
times, to say the least, envy their better lot, and feel dissat- 
ished with your own? “Ihave coveted no man’s silver, or 
gold, or apparel.” But when you,go abroad with the dis- 
tinct apprehension “that bonds and afflictions abide you,” 
does not your sensitive nature sometimes shrink from the 
vision of the sufferings in prospect ? “None of these things 
move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I 
might finish my course with joy, and the ministry which I 
have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the Gospel of the 
grace of God.” 

Please answer this question also: How do you now re- 
gard suffering for Christ's sake? “I take pleasure in in- 
firmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in 
distresses, for Christ’s sake ; for when I am weak, then am I 
strong.” How did you attain to this blessed state? By 
simple faith in God. ‘We believe, and therefore speak.” 
‘T am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live ; yet not I, 
but Christ liveth in me ; and the life which I now live in the 
flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, 
and gave Himself for me.” ; 

Tell us this also, Paul. May we thus attain? Most 
assuredly. ‘‘He is able to save unto the uttermost all 
that come unto God by Him.” Paul, you appear very 
weak and exhausted; would to God we could come to you, 
and let you rest your weary head upon our bosom! I 
have just had a season of deep repose upon the bosom of 
Christ. As I sat here a few hours ago, he came to me in 
Spirit, and said, You are weary, very weary. Lay your head 
upon my bosom, and rest there. That season of deep inter- 
communion and fellowship ‘with the Father, and with his 
Son Jesus Christ,” has left me in a strait betwixt two, and 
what I shall choose, I wot not, “having a desire to depart 


184 BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 


and be with Christ, which is far better ; nevertheless to abide 
in the flesh is more needful for my brethren. And having 
this confidence, I know that I shall abide and continue with 
them all for their furtherance and joy of faith.’ J am re- 
freshed now, and must attend to the multitude of converts and 
inquirers whom you see yonder, coming to me for instruction. 
Farewell. This, reader, is the glorious Gospel of the 
blessed God. This is what that Gospel did for Paul, what it 
has done for me, and what it is able to do for you. ‘If thou 
canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.” 


SUFFERING AND SORROW AS THEY APPEAR IN ETERNITY. 


Suffering and sorrow have no place in the kingdom of light. 
In heaven there is no more pain, sorrow, sighing, sickness, or 
death ; no disappointed hopes, nor any form of heart-sickness 
from hope deferred. The conception of suffering and sorrow, 
however, and the remembrance of the-same, constitute one of 
the central elements of the blessedness and glory of that king- 
dom. All the saints there wear upon their heads, and carry 
in their hands, crowns and palms of victory — victory through 
the blood of the Lamb, and in ‘great fights of affliction.” 
Separate from that state the remembrance of afflictive provi- 
dences, and from Christ the idea of a suffering God for human ~ 
redemption, and you deprive heaven itself of more than one- 
half its ight. The vision of glory which intensifies the rap- 
ture of the celestial hosts is that of Christ manifested through 
the emblem of a “Lamb slain from the foundations of the 
earth.” We would request the reader to consider carefully 
the following passage, as an illustration of the truth before 
us :— 

‘And I beheld, and lo! in the midst of the throne and of 
the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb 
as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 185 


are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. And 
he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that 
sat upon the throne. And when he had taken the book, 
the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before 
the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials 
full of odors, which are the prayers of saints. And they sung 
a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to 
open the seals thereof; for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed 
us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and 
people, and nation; and hast made us unto our God kings 
and priests: and we shall reign on the earth. And I beheld, 
and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne, 
and the beasts, and the elders; and the number of them was 
ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, 
saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain 
to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and 
honor, and glory, and blessing. And every creature which is 
in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as 
are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Bless- 
ing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth 
upon the throne, and unto the Lamb forever and ever. And 
the four beasts said, Amen. And the four and twenty elders 
fell down and worshipped him that liveth forever and ever.” 


ADMONITION. 


Hereafter, when days of darkness come, when pain afflicts, 
when bereavements melt and adversity chastens our hearts, 
when the floods purify and the furnace refines our spirits, and 
the weight of great sorrows presses us down upon the bosom 
of God, let the fixed language of our souls be, ‘“ Welcome, 
cross of Christ ! welcome, everlasting life.” 


186 BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 


DISCOURSE XI. 


THE UNITY .OF THE SPIRIT. 
Epu. iv. 3— “ Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” 


PASSAGE EXPLAINED. 


By the phrase, “unity of the Spirit,” we are to understand — 
that form of divine oneness which the Holy Spirit induces 
among those individuals in whose hearts he dwells — that form 
of oneness to which our Saviour refers in those wonderful 
words, “I in them, and Thou in me, that they may be made 
perfect in one.” This unity is induced when Christ, by the 
Spirit, is enthroned and reigns supreme in the heart of each 
individual. The fact that we are required to ezdeavor to pre- 
serve “the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” implies 
two things: that, without our endeavor, this unity in individual 
minds, and this unity in the bond of peace among associated 
minds, will not be preserved ; and that oneness of spirit may 
obtain among any number of individuals, and yet that unity 
in the bonds of peace may not be perpetuated among them. 
Oneness, that is, sameness, of spirit among any number of 
minds is one thing; this unity “in the bond of peace is 
quite another. Many suppose that if the former obtains, the 
latter will result as a matter of course, if not of necessity. 
This is by no means true universally. ‘The oneness of heart 
and character which the Spirit induces fezds to induce bonds 
of peace among the brotherhood; but in some instances it 
may, for a time at least, fail of that result from differences of 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 187 


opinion on important subjects — differences arising from a 
limitation of the human faculties, even in sanctified minds. 
Paul and Barnabas, for example, had both in common, as we 
have formerly said, “received the Holy Ghost since they had 
believed,” and were by a special revelation from the Spirit 
separated to the work which, for a long period, they had 
jointly prosecuted ; but a temporary separation, if not aliena- 
tion, obtained between them, in consequence of a difference 
of opinion in respect to a question regarded, in common, as 
involving an essential principle of our holy religion. Paul 
judged, that if they received Mark a second time to a com- 
panionship in the work, they would fellowship one who, by 
his former conduct, had proved himself untrustworthy. Bar- 
nabas judged, that in rejecting him, they would deny fellow- 
ship with one who may have had good reason for the act for 
which Paul accused him, who was called of God to the work 
of the ministry, who had special qualifications for the work 
before them, and had been ‘“ endued with power from on 
high” for its prosecution. Here was a conscientious difference 
of opinion, and we have no reason to suppose that either 
quenched the Spirit in the separation which occurred between 
them. In the controversy, Paul was wrong, that is, misjudged, 
as his subsequent testimony in regard to Mark clearly evinces: 
"Take Mark, and bring him with thee ; for he is profitable 
unto me for the ministry.” This error in judgment, and the 
consequent disastrous separation from an eminent servant of 
Christ, was, no doubt, of great use to Paul during his subse- 
quent life, and was unquestionably the only error of the kind 
that he ever fell into. To it we may refer the many exhorta- 
tions to Christian forbearance with which his epistles abound, 
especially the exhortation in the text, “endeavoring to keep 
the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” If inspired 
men, each of whom had received the Holy Ghost after be- 


188 BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 


lieving, did differ in judgment, and did separate the one from 
the’ other, and thereby injure the cause of Christ both in and 
outside of the Church ; and if, as Christ affirms, vés¢b/e unity in 
the bonds of peace among the brotherhood is the condition on 
which the world will believe in him — of what infinite moment 
is it that all the brotherhood in the Church should endeavor 
each to be one with and in Christ through the Spirit, and to 
be at peace among themselves. The object of the present 
discourse is to elucidate the great doctrine of “the unity of 
the Spirit in the bond of peace,” and to impress upon all be- 


lievers a conviction of the duty and importance of making it ~ 


their study and prayerful endeavor to induce and preserve 
this oneness in this one state. What, then, is the idea repre- 
sented by the words — 


“UNITY OF THE SPIRIT” P 


The oneness or unity which the Spirit induces does not 
imply at all that form of sameness which excludes all pecu- 
liarities of izdividual character. Who would desire to find in 
our forests and parks, or on our prairies and in our flower- 
gardens, an absolute likeness, in every tree, plant, and flower, 
to every other; or a similar sameness among all human 
forms and countenances? Equally unwise would it be in God 
to induce a similar unity, a unity which excludes all variety, 
in the realm of mind. Thought would stagnate, and all men- 
tal activity come to a dead standstill, in a universe thus con- 
stituted. The Spirit, when he dwells in a diversity of hearts, 
does induce an absolute unity in fundamental particulars. 
The unity which he induces, however, will be like that which 
his creative and plastic energy induces in the external uni- 
verse —a, unity in which each mind differs in glory from every 
other, just as one star differs from another star in glory. Nor 
does the unity of the Spirit imply, among individuals in whom 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 189 


he dwells, an absolute sameness of thought, feeling, and judg- 
ment, on all subjects mutually deemed important. Paul and 
Barnabas, as we have seen, had in common received the Holy 
Spirit since believing, and both in common were filled with 
the Spirit ; yet they came to opposite conclusions on a subject 
mutually deemed important. Here we have unity of spzrit 
and opposition of vzews in an important sphere of thought 
and judgment. What did obtain in this case may obtain in 
multitudes of other cases, and thus render requisite special 
endeavors “‘to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bonds of 
peace.”’ All who have the Spirit are in fundamental particu- 
lars ‘‘ perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the 
same judgment.” Other departments of thought and activity, 
however, God has left to the discretion of individuals. In 
the former relations unity, and in the latter diversity, of thought 
and judgment, are to be anticipated. 

What, then, is this unity of which we are speaking ? 

In general, let us say, that it implies that form of oneness 
of thought, feeling, and sentiment, on moral and spiritual sub- 
jects, a oneness which induces the highest possible forms of 
moral and spiritual excellence in the individual and in the so- 
cial relations of existence. Character adorns itself with the 
highest possible elements of beauty and perfection, when, 
amid a great diversity of minds, each exercises, to the fullest 
extent, the prerogatives of independent thought and action, 
all in common having a supreme respect for the judgment of 
God, and regarding it as a small matter to be judged by man’s 
judgment, even that of the brotherhood; and at the same 
time, on all subjects of fundamental importance, all are per- 
fectly “joined together in the same mind and in the same 
judgment,” no diversity or opposition obtaining, but in re- 
spect to things non-essential, and this diversity and opposi- 
tion creating no discord. Now this is the divine unity which 


190 BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST: 


the Spirit always induces when his influence obtains the com- 
plete ascendancy... To be somewhat particular, the unity 
which the Spirit induces implies : — 

1. A common, and readily recognizable, likeness of spirit 
and character to those of Christ. “ We all, with open face, be- 
holding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into 
the same image.” Converse with any number of believers 
you please, believers who ‘“‘have received the Holy Ghost 
since they believed,” and however diverse their circumstan- 
ces, Capacities, natural adaptations, and attainments, you will 
readily notice, in all in common, a fundamental and all-con- 
trolling unity in one fundamental respect — a spirit and temper, 
views and aims, altogether Christ-like. In all in common 
there will appear the same meekness and gentleness, the same 
patient endurance of wrong and afflictive providences, the 
same spirit of condescension and universal philanthropy, the 
same love to God and love of truth, the same purity of life 
and uncompromising opposition to sin in all its forms, the 
same unconditional subjection to the will of God, and the 
same implicit obedience to the law of duty, that dwelt in 
Christ, and beautified his life and character. In these respects 
there will be in all in common a fundamental unity or like- 
ness, because that the character of each takes form from a 
common pattern —a pattern which is all-powerful to conform 
every honest mind that apprehends it as it is, to its own like- 


ness. Every real believer has the Spirit of Christ to some ex- 


tent ; every one who ‘has received the Holy Ghost since he 
has believed,” possesses and reflects that Spirit in such meas- 
ure and degree as to be readily recognizable as the leading and 
all-controlling peculiarity of his life and character. Here we 
have ‘the unity of the Spirit” in its fundamental character- 
istics and manifestations, a common oneness with Christ and 
likeness to Him. 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 191 


2. Another peculiarity of that divine unity which the Spirit 
induces in all in whom He dwells, is found in the common 
relations of supreme affection and regard which all will have 
for Christ. All will have in Christ one and the same common 
centre about which their thoughts, affections, and activities, 
perpetually revolve, and revolve, in common, supreme love 
and devotion. Through Him all have a common crucifixion 
to the world, and the world to them. In Him all have com- 
mon hopes, joys, and consolation — hopes that never “make 
ashamed, because the love of God is shed Ae in the heart, 
by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us; ’ joys that are in 
deed and in truth “unspeakable, and full ae glory ;” and con. 
solations of which nothing higher or lower than this can be 
said, that they are “ everlasting.” 

3- All who “have received the Holy Ghost since they be- 
lieved,” have in common, really and truly, “ fellowship with the 
Father, and with his: Son Jesus Christ :” “ Christ in you, the 
hope of glory;” “TI will dwell in them, and walk in them, 
and be their God, and they shall be my people ;” “I in them, 
thou in me, that theymay be made perfect in one ;” “we will 
come unto Him, and make our abode with Him.” What a 
divine unity must be induced in kindred minds, all of whom, 
in common, have such identical inward experiences and fel- 
lowships as these ? 

4. The last element and characteristic of “the unity of 
the Spirit,” to which we would refer, is this: a common and 
superlative regard for the image and Spirit of Christ, in whom 
soever it may exist, and from whomsoever it may be reflected. 
That, in character, which a truly sanctified mind esteems 
and values above all other elements, is the image and spirit 
of Christ, the beauty of holiness manifested and reflected in 
the inward experience and outward life. ‘Whosoever shall 
do the will of God, the same is my brother, and sister, and 


192 BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 


mother.” This was the spirit of Christ, and this is the com- 
mon spirit and leading sentiment of all in whom the Spirit of 
Christ dwells. Itis this spint of common regard for moral 
purity in character that lays the foundation for that divine 
form of Christian virtue denominated Christian fellowship, or 
brotherly love. We have dwelt sufficiently upon the doctrine 
of the unity of the Spirit to show what it is. The next 


thought which demands’ attention is that form of oneness re- 


presented by the words — 


“UNITY OF THE SPIRIT IN THE BOND OF PEACE.” 


Peace exists where harmony obtains to the exclusion of dis- 
cord and the bitterness of strife and division. ‘Bond of 
peace” implies a form of unity which not only excludes strife 
and discord, but resists and overcomes the strongest tempta- 
tions to division and separation. Friendship is strong when 
neither absence nor the tongue of slander, diversity of opin- 
ion nor seeming opposition of interest, can sunder or weaken 
the ties which unite loving hearts together. Take, for exam- 
ple, the friendship of David and Jonathan. Absence could 
not cool the ardor of their mutual love ; nor could the tongue 
of envy, nor rivalry of interest, sunder the bonds of peace by 
which their hearts were united. Christian fellowship, or 


brotherly love, implies friendship in the strongest form in 


which kindred minds can, by any possibility, be united. It is 
love the same in kind as that which blends into one the 
hearts of the persons of the sacred Trinity: “‘As Thou, 
Father, art in me, and Iin Thee; that they may be one in 


us;” “That they maybe one, as we are one.” ~Worldiggs 


minds may be at peace one with the other, and may be united 


by ties of friendship apparently tender and strong. Such _ 


- bonds, however, will stand but a feeble test. Slight causes 
of discord will sunder completely and for ever such minds, 


\ 
ie ra so? 
a “a a ee 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 193 


the one from the other. The same holds true of that form of 
friendship which has its basis and source in the domestic 
affections. Fraternal love here will seldom endure even a 
division of a parental estate. But brotherly love which has 
its basis and source in the “unity of the Spirit,” is a bond of 
peace that endures to eternity, and which can by no possibil- 
ity be sundered, but by one of two causes, or both united — 
a loss of Christian virtue, or an eclipse of Christian character ; 
an eclipse in which, from misunderstanding, or other causes, 
sanctified minds for a time appear to each other as they are not. 
“The unity of the Spirit” not only induces peace among the 
brotherhood, but ‘ dozds of peace.” “ The unity of the Spirit 
in the bond of peace” is kept when sanctified minds maintain 
their oneness with Christ, and have “fellowship one with 
another.” 

There is one peculiarity which distinguishes this unity from 
worldly friendship in all its forms. The broken ties of the 
latter form of love are seldom or never reunited. A friend 
once cooled repels all attempts at a reunion. Not so with 
Christian fellowship or brotherly love. Broken ties, rejoined, 
live when the causes of separation are fully removed, and re- 
united bonds of peace remain stronger than they ever existed 
before. ‘The duty enjoined in the text next claims our atten- 
tion — the duty to make it our constant endeavor, 


‘““TO KEEP THE UNITY OF THE SPIRIT IN THE BOND OF 
PEACE.” 


Obedience to this principle implies two things — that it be 
our constant aim and endeavor to preserve in our own hearts, 
and in all sanctified minds around us, “the unity of the 
Spirit,” or the oneness with Christ before described, unalloyed 
and untarnished, and to perpetuate among such this unity 


in the bond of peace ; that is, to preserve Christian character 
9. 


194 BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 


wherever it exists untarnished, and to blend and keep all 
Christian minds in the one accord of Christian fellowship or 
brotherly love. Conceive of a certain number of associated 
minds and hearts, each ‘walking in the light, as God is in 
the light,” and all ‘having fellowship one with another” — 
while it is the steady endeavor of each and all to perpetuate 
and cement more and more this oneness with Christ on the 
one hand, and this mutial fellowship on the other, while all 
are watchfully guarding against all causes of corruption and 
discord from within and without this sanctified circle. We 
have here the identical state intended by the Apostle when he 
penned the words of the text. That each believer should 
make it his steady and prayerful endeavor to induce and per- 
petuate among all the members of the household of faith 
“the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace,” will appear 
evident from the following considerations : — 

1. It is, in itself, the highest, the most perfect, and the 
most blessed state in which rational beings can exist and act. 
In this state, such minds not only have fellowship ‘one 
* with another,” but they all in common ‘“ walk with God, their 
fellowship being with the Father, and with his Son Jesus 
Christ.” There is no other state conceivable so exalted, so 
perfect, or so blessed as that. Now if we ought to aim to in- 
duce in ourselves, and among the household of faith, the most 
perfect forms of virtue, and the highest blessedness conceiv- 
able or possible, it should be our fixed and prayerful endeavor 
“to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” 
among all the believers in common. 

2. The importance which Christ attaches to this ate should 
impel every believer to use his constant and his best en- 
deavors to induce and perpetuate it. ‘By this shall all men 
_ know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one toward 
another.” ‘Neither pray I for these alone, but for them 


= nae 
ec ; < * 
EEN Oe eee ee” Oe eee 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 195 


also that shall believe on me through their word; that they all 
may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that 
they also may be one in us ; that the world may believe that 
thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou hast given me, 
Ihave given them, that they may be one, even as we are one: 
I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in 
one ; and that the world may mow that thou hast sent me, 
and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.” Who, in the 
presence of such melting revelations, would sow discord in 
the household of faith? Whocan avoid making it his constant 
endeavor to induce and perpetuate a state, for the existence 
and perpetuity of which Christ thus intercedes with “his 
Father and our Father, and with his God and our God?” 
especially when, in the judgment of Christ, the destiny of the 
world is suspended upon the existence and continuance of 
such relations among believers. 

3. The revealed example of God himself should be to us an 
all-constraining motive to induce in us the most earnest, con- 
stant, and prayerful endeavor to “ keep the unity of the 
Spirit in the bond of peace.” “Be ye, therefore, followers 
of God, as dear children ; and walk in love, as Christ also 
hath loved us, and given himself for us, an offering and a sac- 
rifice to God, for a sweet-smelling savor.” “Beloved, if 
God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.” 
‘“ Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down 
his life for us; and we ought to lay down ‘our lives for the 
brethren.” When a duty lies before us, upon the object of 
which the interests of the world are suspended, and obedience 
to which is urged upon us by such motives and by such an 
example, we surely should be prompt and tireless in its per- 
formance. 

4. We urge as another reason for the duty before us, the 
fact that, without our watchful endeavor, “the unity of the 


T96. BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 


Spirit in the bond of peace” will not be kept among the 
brotherhood of the household of faith. Unless believers 
‘watch unto prayer,” ‘the serpent who beguiled Eve will cor- 
rupt their minds from the simplicity of Christ.” So, without 
their prayerful.endeavor “to keep the unity of the Spirit in 
the bond of peace,” “ that old serpent, the devil,” will induce 
misunderstandings, and strife, and discord in the family of 
Christ. A purposeless life never was and never will be a 
loving or a peaceful one. Let it, then, be our fixed and 
prayerful endeavor “to keep the unity of the Spint in the 
bond of peace.” | 
“‘Blest be the tie that binds 
Our hearts in Christian love,” 

and palsied be the tongue or the hand that shall sow discord 
and strife among the children of God. 

s. We should endeavor, we remark finally, “to keep the 
unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace,” because that when 
we cease to walk in the light, so as to have fellowship one with 
another, we lose all proper evidence of Christian character. 
‘We know that we have passed from death unto life, because 
we love the brethren.” “If any man love not his brother 
whom he hath seen, how can he love God, whom he hath not 
seen?” ‘By this shall all men know that ye are my disci- 
ples, if ye have love one to another.” ‘He that hateth his 
brother is a murderer, and we know that no murderer hath 
eternal life abiding in him.” Here, then, we have a funda- 
mental test of Christian character. ‘‘ Love is of God, and he 
that dwelleth in love, dwelieth in God, and God in him.” “He 
that loveth not, knoweth not God; for God is love.” In the 
conscious exercise of brotherly love, we have the witness of 
the Spirit, that ‘we are the children of God.” In the absence 
- of such love, we lose all proper evidence that we are of God. 
‘In the opposite state, we have absolute proof that we have 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 197 


not eternal life abiding in us. How important, then, that we 


endeavor “to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of 
peace.” 


THE DUTY BEFORE US WIDE IN ITS APPLICATIONS. 


We perceive clearly, in the light of our subject, that the 
duty imposed in the text has a far wider application than is 
commonly supposed. The words, “unity of the Spirit in the 
bond of peace,” imply ‘fellowship with the Father, and with 
his Son Jesus Christ,” in the first case, and ‘fellowship one 
with another,” in the next. Universal unity in both these 
respects is, according to the text, to be the object of our con- 
stant endeavor. Brotherly love merely is commonly under- 
stood as referred to in this passage. The key-note of Christian 
fellowship or unity is a common oneness, with and in Christ : 
‘‘T in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect 
in one.” 


HOW DISCORD IN THE HOUSEHOLD OF FAITH SHOULD BE 
REGARDED. 


We see, also, how discord in the household of faith should 
be regarded. It is, in itself, the root and consummation of all 
evil, and should be so regarded, and that for two reasons. It 
tends to break up fellowship with God in the first case, and 
in the next, eclipses the glory of the Gospel of Christ before 
the world. : 


TRUE AND PROPER CONDITIONS OF CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP. 


We are now prepared to state definitely the true and proper 
conditions of Christian fellowship. It is not a mere profession 
of Christian character, but the presentation of valid evidence 
of the possession of genuine Christian virtue, or oneness 
with God. Sin is to be tolerated nowhere, and especially 


198 BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 


not within the Church of Christ. If an individual professes 
Christianity, and yet ‘walks disorderly,” we are absolutely 
commanded to disfellowship him. If, on the other hand, an 
individual gives valid evidence that he has “fellowship with 
the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ,” we must receive 
him into cordial fellowship, whatever his peculiarities in other 
respects may be; or we are in peril of parting company with 
God. . 


PROPER CONDITIONS OF DENOMINATIONAL FELLOWSHIP. 


We understand, also, what must be the conditions of denom- 
inational fellowship, provided any.given Christian denomina- 
tion would truly and properly represent Christianity as it is in 
itself. Its conditions must be absolutely identical with those 
which God has prescribed for Christian fellowship. So far 
forth as any denomination departs from this one principle, it 
places itself out of the pale of the Christian family, and stands 
chargeable with ‘‘making a schism in the body of Christ.” 
In all such cases, “‘man puts asunder what God joined 
together.” 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 199 


DISCOURSE XIL 


WITNESS, DEMONSTRATION, AND POWER OF THE 


SPIRIT. 
1 Joun v. 6— “And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth.” 
Rom. viii. 16 — “‘ The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the chil- 
dren of God.” 
x Cor. ii. 4—‘‘And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of 


man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power.” 


LANGUAGE EMPLOYED BY THE SACRED WRITERS TO REPRE- 
SENT THE RELATIONS OF THE MIND TO THE TRUTH, WHEN 
THE MIND IS UNDER THE ILLUMINATION OF THE SPIRIT. 


THERE are certain very peculiar and special forms of speech 
employed by the sacred writers to represent the relations of 
the mind to the truth of God, when the creature is under the 
illumination of the Spirit. The word know is most commonly 
employed for such purposes. We give the following passages 
as examples: “We vow that we are of God;” “And here- 
by we now that we are of the truth, and shall assure our 
hearts before him ;” ‘“‘ Now we have received, not the spirit 
of the world, but the Spirit which is of God; that we might 
know the things that are freely given to us of God;” “At 
that day ye shall Zvow that I am in my Father, and ye in me, 
and I in you.” 

Assurance is another form of utterance by which the same 
relations are expressed: ‘And shall assure our hearts before 
him.” So also the sacred writers speak of ‘‘ the full assurance 
of hope,” “the full assurance of faith,” and of the “ full assur- 
ance of understanding.” 


200 BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 


In.our last text, the Apostle speaks of “the demonstration 
of the Spirit.” Demonstration induces a form of conviction 
which absolutely excludes doubt. Such is the term employed 
by inspiration to represent the form and kind of conviction 
induced under the illumination of the Spirit. 

Those who are thus divinely taught, are denominated spir- 
wtual: “We that is spiritual judgeth all things: yet he him- 
self is judged of no man.” This peculiar and divinely im- 
parted form of knowledge has in it what no other form has 
—— the eternally enduring elements of life everlasting: “And 
this is life eternal, that they might 2vow thee, the only true 
God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” Let us en- 
dleavor to attain to an apprehension of the forms of knowledge 
under consideration. 


DIVERSE FORMS AND DEGREES OF CONVICTION. 


There are, as all are aware, diverse forms and degrees 
of conviction which the mind may have in regard to a given 
truth. At one time a proposition may appear as ossibly, and 
at another as probably, true.. Here conviction takes on the 
form of belief, or opinion. In other cases conviction takes 
on forms still higher and more positive; those of certainty, 
which excludes doubt. We here find ourselves within the 
circle of knowledge proper, and begin to affirm that we know 
that this and that proposition is true or false. Knowledge, in 
its absolute forms, is intuitive or demonstrative. Of the for- 
mer kind is that in which we have a direct and immediate per- 
ception or knowledge of a given object, such as the conscious- 
ness which we have of our own existence and mental states, 
and of objects of direct and immediate perception in the 
world around us. Knowledge is demonstrative, when we per- 
ceive that a given proposition not only is, but must be, true. 

Here we attain to an apprehension of the character of all 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 201 


convictions induced by the illuminations of the Spirit. In all 
such cases there is a direct and inward beholding of divine 
truth —forms of absolute knowledge inducing convictions 
which arise even above ordinary demonstration. In such 
beholdings, doubt has no place. Nothing remains but abso- 
lute certainty. We “know the things which are freely given 
us of God.” “Now the Lord is that Spirit; and where 
the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with 
open face, beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are 
‘changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by 
the Spirit of the Lord.” 


FACTS AND ILLUSTRATIONS IN RESPECT TO DIVINE ILLUMI- 
NATION. 


Let us now contemplate a few facts and illustrations of the 
various forms of divine teaching and illumination. You have, 
no doubt, reader, been subject to experiences like the follow- 
ing: A given truth of God has, for years, it may be, lain in 
the outer circle of thought. Doubt, and even disbelief, may 
at times have had place in your mind in regard to it; nor 
was it possible to render it the object of zmpressive apprehen- 
sion. It lay, as a dead litter, at an infinite remove from the 
heart. All at once, and in a manner not at all understood, 
“ God knoweth” that truth makes an advance from the circle 
and sphere cf doubt and disbelief into that of open and all- 
impressive vision, and we know it as an eternal verity. It is 
a matter of inexpressible wonder now that we ever could, for 
a moment, have had a solitary doubt in respect to it, or could 
have regarded it with indifference. Disbelief, doubt, and in- 
difference, on the other hand, appear infinitely absurd and . 
criminal. No other forms of intuitive knowledge and no 
demonstration, can induce such absolute and impressive con- 


viction. 
g* 


202 BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 


The wife of a friend of ours was passing away, through the 
gradual advance of consumption. From childhood, death 
had been to her mind “the Azzg of terrors.” During her 
sickness, also, she had been fearfully perturbed with the idea 


of dying. As our friend entered her room one day, she ex- 


claimed, with an unearthly glow upon her countenance, ‘‘ My 
dear husband, there is nothing fearful about dying. Death 
has no terrors. The idea of dying is sweet to me, now.” 
From that moment she adjusted her spirit for the approach- 
ing change with all the sweet equanimity with which she had 
before adorned herself for the bridal hour. Indeed, the em- 
brace of death was to her mind the bridal hour of her immor- 
tal spirit. Here we have one illustration of the effects of di- 
vine illumination. All truth, as apprehended through the 
Spirit, passes from those outer spheres of thought and appre- 
hension, where disbelief and gloomy doubts prevail, and 
where vision is dim and unimpressive, into the inner circle of 
open and all-impressive, vision, and of absolute knowledge. 
“T have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear; but now 
mine eye see¢/ thee.” 

We have special examples and illustrations of the form of 
illumination in the experience of converted men — that of in- 
fidels, Universalists, and moralists, especially — their experi- 
ence when under the convicting power of the Spirit. When 
walking in carnal security, amid the deep midnight of unbe- 
lief, when impregnably fortified, as they supposed, in their 
opinions and beliefs, and doubly armed against all the argu- 
ments and weapons of ‘‘the truth as it is in Jesus,” in a mo- 


ment of deep and solemn thought, such as from time to time | 


comes over all minds in common, the cloud is lifted, and they 
find themselves in the clear sunlight of truth itself. Their 
arguments, reasonings, and objections to the Gospel appear 
lighter than “airy nothing,” as nothing but so many absurdi- 


eS Ws ae 4 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 203 


ties. The evidences in favor of Christianity, on the other 
hand, stand out before the mind as immovable as the ever- 
lasting mountains. Such individuals cannot themselves tell 
how this sunlight came to them. But when it did come, they 
found themselves at once within the sphere of absolute 
knowledge, the circle where doubt forever disappears. 

A very intelligent gentleman in Boston, years ago, re- 
quested us to visit him. During our interview he made this 
statement: “For fifty years of my life, up to a few weeks 
since, I was a confirmed atheist. I had no idea that my be- 
lief could be shaken. As I lay upon my bed from a slight 
indisposition, the following reflections passed through my 
mind. ‘There are in the Bible a vast number of predictions, 
which no human foresight could have divined. Every one 
of these, when the time specified arrived, was fulfilled to the 
letter. The same book foretells for the soul a future state 
__a state of eternal retribution. These last predictions will 
come to pass, just as all the others have done. All this came 
before my mind with such distinctness and force as to render 
doubt impossible ; and I am here, a believer in Jesus.” 

A distinguished moralist, who had long and openly gloried _ 
in the all-sufficiency of his own self-originated mghteousness, 
determined at one time, in conformity to a suggestion which 
he had heard from an evangelical pulpit, to take a careful 
survey of his life, write down his good deeds in one column 
and his bad ones in another, and then strike the balance be- 
tween them. He sat down with the most undoubting assur- 
ance of finding the result immensely in his own favor. With 
much self-congratulation he wrote out a long catalogue of 
meritorious acts. But when he commenced putting down his ~ 
acts of sin, one and another suggested itself until this last cata- 
logue far outnumbered the first. Still his sins, in appalling 
succession, came rushing in upon his memory. Their num- 


204 BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 


ber appeared to be infinite. I must have forgotten many 
of my good deeds, he said to himself. I will run over the 
record of these, that others may thereby be suggested. As 
his eye rested upon the first set down to his own credit, that 
* act, he said again to himself, is sinful. The motive which 
prompted it was wrong. So of every other of the same class, 
until his whole life stood out before his mind as “evil, and 
only evil, continually.” ‘Truth, under the searching power 
of the Spirit, having become ‘a discerner of the thoughts and 
intents of the heart,” the man apprehended, not only his 
general sinfulness, but his absolute /ofa/i#y in sin. At the 
same time he perceived, with equal distinctness, the infinite 
criminality of such a life. Now he &vzew his need of Christ, 
and was soon found, a trembling, trusting, hoping, and believ- 
ing penitent, at the foot of the cross. Throughout the whole 
process there was, instead of former darkness and unbelief, 
absolute conviction, which totally excluded doubt. Similar 
results obtain in the experience of all impenitent persons, 
when under the convicting power of the Spirit. They know, 
as by direct and absolute intuition, their sin and ill desert, 
their ruin in sin, and need of the redemption of Christ. 

The effects of divine illumination, however, become still 
more manifest in the experience of the beliver when “the 
Holy Ghost comes upon him.” <A real Christian may, for ex- 
ample, continue in long and painfuldoubt, in respect to the 
genuineness of his conversion, and the question of his accept- 
ance with God. Inquiry, and even prayer, tend but to dim 
vision and intensify doubt upon the subject. All at once 
he emerges from all this chilling fog into a bright spot, where 
more than sunlight shines upon the question about which his 
mind has so long hung in the agony of doubt and uncer- 
tainty. He knows that he “is accepted in the Beloved,” 
and without fear hangs his eternity upon that assurance. 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 205 


Were he asked the question, How and zwAy he knows this, he 
might be at a loss for an answer. Of the fact of his adoption, 
however, he has an assurance as absolute as he has of his 
own existence. “Behold,” he exclaims, ‘‘ God is my salva- 
tion; I will trust, and not be afraid. For the Lord’ Jehovah 
is my strength and my song. He also, has become iy sal- 
vation.” 

The believer reads upon the sacred page such passages as 
the following: “I have loved thee with an everlasting love. 
Therefore, with lovingkindness, have I drawn thee ;” “As 
the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you;” ‘The 
hairs of your head are all numbered;” “Fear not, little 
flock ; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the 
kingdom.” Such passages, as every one knows, represent a 
form of love “which passeth knowledge.” Yet to the unil- 
lumined mind, that love is not real. God seems to be afar 
off. He does seem to love Christ, and angels, and glorified 
spirits. It appears, however, as if he had forgotten and for- 
saken me. I cannot make it real, that his ear is bent toward 
me when I pray to -him. All at once the veil is lifted from 
the face of God, and with open vision we behold his glory. 
Nothing seems so real, now, as God’s love to us and his care 
for us. God is love, and our dwelling-place is in the fulness 
of that love. All that the sacred writers affirm of ‘‘the fel- 
lowship of the Spirit,” of “ God’s dwelling in us, and 
we in him,” of “Christ in you, the hope of glory,” of his 
“manifesting himself unto us,” and with the Father ‘ making 
his abode in us,” of “the Father in him and he in us,” and 
of the Father loving us even as he loves the Son —all is con- 
sciously real to the mind now. We “ comprehend the 
length, and breadth, and depth, and height,” and “know the 
love of Christ, which passeth knowledge.” We ‘“ &zow and be- 
lieve the love that God hath to us.” The same holds true of 


3 


206 BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 


divine illumination in all its forms. When the Spirit comes, 
he ‘‘ takes of the things of Christ, and shows them unto us,” 
and “shows us flainly of the Father.’ . Christ, with the 
Father, is to us a real, and manifested personal presence, and 
‘with open face” we “behold his glory.” We receive from 
Christ ‘‘eye-salve, that we may see.” “ We read the precious 
Scriptures with new eyes,” and have a direct, immediate, and 
open vision of their great revelations. When we speak of 
these things, ‘‘what we have seen and heard,” of these we 
give testimony. 


THE WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT TO THE TRUTH. 


We are now prepared to apprehend what is meant by the 
witness of the Spirit to the truth. There are two revealed 
objects to which his testimony pertains — to the truth as re- 
vealed in the sacred Word, and to individuals in regard to 
the fact of their divine adoption. That first designated is the 
form of testimony of which we are now to speak. ‘It is the 
Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth,” trust- 
worthy, giving testimony only to what is true. There are 
various forms in which this testimony is given. The Spirit is 
the author of the Bible. ‘The holy men of old,” who wrote 
it, “‘spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” In giy- 
ing us this revelation, we have his testimony to its truth. 
Doubting what is written, we “make God a liar.” We have 
similar testimony in the stupendous Spirit-wrought miracles, 
and in the numberless Spirit-inspired prophecies which encir- 
cle the sacred Word, and affirm its divine origin. 

In the nature of the production itself, the Spirit has, also, 
given a form of testimony to the truth, equally absolute and 
impressive. It would be no more absurd to affirm that man 
originated the solar system, than is the dogma that the Bible 
is a mere human production. “The footprints of the Crea- 


Ce eee oy 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 20% * 


tor” are as manifest here, as in the organization of the tni- 
verse. ‘Through the work produced, the Spint has given 
absolute testimony to the truth. 

The form of testimony, of all others the most impressive, 
however, is that which is constantly being witnessed in the 
interior of the mind itself, when under the special influence 
and illumination of the Spirit. We call a physician, who 
prescribes a certain medicine, and at the same time desig- 
nates certain specific effects which will follow its administra- 
tion. In the experience of those identical results, we have 
proof of that physician’s knowledge and integrity. The 
Scriptures map out beforehand endlessly diversified forms of 
experience and character, as resulting from our believing and 
obeying the Gospel. As these experiences follow our faith 
and obedience — all in exact accordance with ‘what is 
written’? — and as these results do, and can, follow under no 
other influences, we know, and cannot but know, that ‘the 
Spirit is truth.” As these results are divine in their nature, 
we also know that the truth which induces them must, through 
the Spirit, “‘come down from the Father of lights.” ‘The 
‘everlasting consolations,” the immortal hopes, the divine 
fellowships, the moral virtues, and the fulness of joy, all con- 
sciously received through a superhuman and divine influence, 
are sO many witnesses within, that we are being led, and 
taught, and filled by “the Spirit of the living God.” ‘“ We 
have the witness in ourselves.” 


THE WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT ‘‘WITH OUR SPIRIT THAT WE 
ARE THE CHILDREN OF GOD.” 


“The Spirit,” we are also told, ‘“beareth witness with our 
spirit that we are the children of God.” How is this testi- 
mony borne? Of this, we are, in one fundamental particu- 
lar, informed in the context. “For as many as are led by 


208 BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 


the"Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have 
not received the spirit of bondage again to fear ; but ye have 
received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, 
Father.” The Apostle then adds: ‘‘ The Spirit beareth wit- 
ness with” —that is,in connection with, or through — ‘our 
spirit’ — the spirit of adoption which he induces in us — “ that 
we are the children of God.” In the exercise of the Spirit of 
adoption, we recognize God as our Father, and ourselves as 
his children. In inducing this spirit within us, the Holy 
Ghost superadds his testimony to the fact, that we are God’s 
sons and daughters. If we were not such, the Holy Ghost 
would not induce the spirit of sonship in our hearts. 

The believer, as he advances onward “in the light of God,” 
—and we always walk in that light when we have the Spirit — 
receives at length an absolute inward assurance of his divine 
adoption. From that moment “he knows that he is of 
God,” and can no more doubt it than he can cease to be 
conscious of his own being. In giving us that assurance, the 
Spirit gives us, with it, his testimony that “we are the 
children of God,” and we distinctly recognize his testimony 
to that fact. 

The believer often passes through a form of experience in 
which ‘patience has her perfect work,” and in which “ tribu- 
lation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and 
experience, hope; and hope maketh not ashamed ; because 
the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy 
host which is given unto us.” When the Spirit thus “sheds 
abroad” that love, he gives with and by it his absolute 
testimony to the fact, that ‘we are the children of God.” 
-In conducting us through such hallowed experiences, he tes- 
tifies to and with our spirit that God is dealing with us “as 
with sons,” disciplining us “for our profit, that we may be 
partakers of his holiness.” 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 209 


So when “the Spirit helpeth our infirmities,” we, “not 
knowing what we should pray for as we ought,” when “he 
maketh intercession for us according to the will of God,” and 
when we, thus influenced and directed, “ask and receive,” 
“until our joy is full” —in inducing these filial and parental 
relations between us and God, the Spirit, in the most abso- 
lute form conceivable, “ testifies with our spirit, that we are 
the children of God.” During the era of deadly persecution 
in Scotland, when “the baptism of the Spirit” was the com- 
mon experience of believers, and the myrmidons of the per- 
secuting power were marauding the whole country, to mur- 
der the saints and break up the religious assemblies, a young 
woman, on her way to such a meeting, was met by a company 
of cavalry, and required to give her destination. She could 
not ‘deny the faith,’ and would not reveal the place of 
meeting. At that moment this promise presented itself to 
her mind: ‘It shall be given you in that same hour what ye 
shall speak.” She lifted a secret prayer that God would then 
give her what she should speak. Instantly these words pre- 
sented themselves, and she uttered them as presented. “I 
am going to my Father's house. My elder brother has died. 
His will is to be read to-day, and I have an interest in it.’ The 
commander bid her go on her way. ‘I hope,’ he added, 
‘“‘vou will find a rich portion left to yourself.” Could the 
Spirit have given that young saint any more absolute testi- 
mony that she was a child of God? At that same era, two 
brethren were helping their loved pastor, who was crippled 
with rheumatism, on to such a meeting. On their way, they 
discovered a troop of ‘those murderers approaching. As.they 
could not in time carry their pastor to a place of safety, he 
entreated them to leave him, and save themselves. They 
replied that they should stay and die with him. As they 
would not be persuaded, he lifted a prayer, that God would 


DEO oes | BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 


interpose and conceal them from their persecutors. In- 
stantly a thick cloud came over the top of the mountain, and 
covered them, so that their murderers passed close by their vic- 
tims, without seeing them at all. . Did those individuals need 
from the Spirit any other testimony that they were “ the 
children of God” ? Every answer we receive to prayer is a 
testimony of the same kind. 

When, we remark oncé more, the Spirit brings us into con- 
scious “fellowship with the Father, and with his Son Jesus 
Christ ;” when he enables us to “know the love of Christ, 
which passeth knowledge,” and “ fills us with all the fulness 
of God ;” when we “behold with open face the glory of the 
Lord,” and are “changed into the same image from glory to 
glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord;” and when, by his in- 
dwelling presence and illumination, ‘‘ God becomes our ever- 
lasting light, and the days of our mourning are ended” -—in 
all this we have the absolute testimony of the Spirit to our 
adoption. We need, as Mr. Wesley says, no voice without, 
and no words within, to know that we have this witness. 
What we do need is, “full assurance of hope,” “ full assur- 
ance of faith,” and “full assurance of understanding.” 
These the Spirit gives us, and in these we have his testimony 
that ‘we are the children of God.” 


THE POWER OF THE SPIRIT. 


Truth in all its forms, truth when apprehended through the 
Spirit, has not only an all-illuminating and all-convincing, but 
equally an all-vitalizing power— a power to quicken into the 
highest possible activity every faculty and susceptibility of our 
nature. Every truth of God, and at the same time all that we 
are capable of being and becoming through divine influence, 
lie out with perfect distinctness under the eye of the Spirit. 
At each successive moment, therefore, he is able, we co-work- 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. P11 


ing with him, to induce in us those specific apprehensions, de- 
sires, and purposes, which will render our activity the most 
perfect, our blessedness the most full, and our virtues the most 
divine. Nothing possible to our natures lies beyond his power 
to induce in us, and to enable us to accomplish. He 
knows us, as we do not and cannot know ourselves; and 
not what we know of ourselves, but what he knows us as capa- 
ble of being, becoming, doing, and enjoying — this is the limit 
and measure of his power to do in and through us. 

As “laborers together with God” for his kingdom and 
glory, the Spirit knows how to induce in us just those appre- 
hensions of God, Christ, life, death, duty, redemption, eternity, 
and retribution, just those emotions, desires, purposes, forms 
of utterance, and modes of action, which will render our agency 
the most efficient for the purposes of our “high calling of God 
-in Christ Jesus.” Yes, reader, God by his Spirit is “able to 
make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having 
all-sufficiency in all things, may abound unto every good work.” 
Girded by the power of the Spirit, the weakest among us may 
do valiant service “for the great Captain of our salvation.” 
The same almighty power which the Spirit “ wrought in Christ, 
when he raised him from the dead, and set him at the nght 
hand of God in the heavenly places, far above all principality, 
and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that 
- is named, not only in this world, but in that which is tocome” - 
—that divine power, we are absolutely assured, is equally 
mighty to us-ward, in reference to all our spiritual necessities 
and exigencies; yes, equally mighty to do in and for us 
“exceeding abundantly, above all that we ask or think.” 
Nothing can exceed the impressiveness of the language of the 
Apostle upon this subject : — 

“Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord 
Jesus, and love unto all the saints, cease not to give thanks 


912, BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 


for you, making mention of you in my prayers ; that the God 
of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto 
you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of 
him: the eyes of your understanding being enlightened ; that ' 
ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the 
riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what zs 
the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, ac- 
cording to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought 
in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set zm at 
his own right hand in the heavenly p/aces, far above all princi- 
pality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name 
that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which 
is to come: and hath put all ¢#zzgs under his feet, and gave 
him Zo ée the head over all ¢Azmgs to the Church, which is his. 
body; the fulness of him that filleth all in all.” 


THE BELIEVER WITH, AND WITHOUT, ‘*THE POWER OF THE 
SPIRIT.”’ 


There are two distinct and opposite states and relations in 
which the believer in Jesus may be contemplated. In the one 
state, he has repented of sin, ‘‘ believed to the saving of his 
soul,” entertains sincere purposes of obedience, and is not 
utterly barren of good works. In the other state, he has all 
these, with ‘the power of the Spirit” superadded. As a ne- 
cessary consequence, a fundamental difference arises in the. 
forms which Christian experience and action take on. In the 
former state, the leading characteristics of such experience are 
imbecility, inward emptiness, and want ; doing what we would 
not, and not doing what we would; a perpetual “laying again 
foundation of repentance, from dead works to serve the living 
God ;” intervals of light, with longer continued periods of 
darkness and gloom ; periods of hope and assurance, but more 
of doubt and fear; occasional joys, but “much of sorrow, 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 213 


much of woe ;” much of crying after God, but very little, if any, 
‘communion of the Spirit ;” and many fightings, but very few 
‘victories by the blood of the Lamb and the word of his testi- 
mony.” In the latter state, the equally marked characteristics 
of that experience are, courage and strength; ‘everlasting 
consolations, and good hope through grace ;” ‘victories by the 
blood of the Lamb and the word of his testimony ;” “ the light 
of God, and with it, full assurance of faith,” “ full assurance 
of hope,” and “full assurance of understanding ;” ‘“all-suffi- 
ciency in all things,” and thereby “ abounding unto every good 
work ;” immortal fellowships, and “fulness of joy ;” and God 
as our ,‘‘everlasting light,” while “the days of our mourning 
are ended.” 


THE SECRET OF STRENGTH IN THE CHRISTIAN LIFE. 


“The Church of the living God” should ever be in that state 
in which “he that is feeble among us is as David and the house 
of David, as God, as the angel of the Lord before him.” On 
what conditions can we be girded with this everlasting 
strength? We must, in the first place, fully appreciate our own 
weaknesses and insufficiency in ourselves, and utterly and 
forever renounce and repudiate the principle of self-suffi- 
ciency and dependence. ‘Weare not sufficient of ourselves 
to think anything as of ourselves.” This truth must be om- 
nipresent in our mind. In the next place, we must as fully 
appreciate the availadle strength which exists for us in God. 
‘Our sufficiency is of God,” and in him we have “all-suf- 
ficiency for all things.” We “can do all things through 
Christ who strengtheneth us.” In our assurance of 
available ‘strength in the Lord, and in the power of his 
might,” we must never waver. Lastly, our hope and our 
trust must be, “not in ourselves, but in God.” “If we will 
not believe, we shall not be established.” If we do be- 


914 BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 


lieve, our “light will go forth as brightness, and our salvation 
as a lamp that shineth.” At all times, and in every exigency, 
“the grace of Christ will be sufficient for us.” Here lies the 
grand secret of holy living. ‘Have faith in God.” “We 
believe, and therefore speak.” “If thou canst believe: all 
things are possible to him that believeth.”  Self-distrust, and 
‘“‘ faith in God.” Here is the divine secret, which “none of 
the wicked,” and too few believers, “understand,” but which 
the ‘‘ wise do understand.” May you, reader, know this divine 
secret ! 


THE PRINCIPLE OF FEAR, AS AN ELEMENT OF CHRISTIAN CHAR- 
ACTER. 


As far as “the full assurance of faith,” “the full assurance 
of hope,” “‘the full assurance of understanding,” and that form 
of fear which is ‘cast out by perfect love,” are concerned, 
fear should have no place whatever in Christian experience. 
Ail in common should “serve God without fear, in righteous- 
ness and holiness before him, all the days of their lives.” Yet 
there are certain possibilities and perils attendant on the 
Christian life, which should induce that sober vigilance, and 
wakeful circumspection and watchfulness, represented by the 
words ‘‘godly fear” and ‘fear and trembling.” Notwith- 
standing the availability, the all-sufficiency of divine grace, and 
“the power of the Spirit,” we may “cast away our confidence,” 
“sell our birthright,” “‘ quench the Spirit,” and be “ corrupted 
from the simplicity that is in Christ.” The immutable con- 
dition of final salvation with us is, that we “hold the begin- 
ning of our confidence steadfast, even unto the end.” For the 
want of proper diligence in “ stirring the gift of God which is 
in us,” the gift of the Spirit, we may fail to glorify God by 
‘bearing much fruit.” We must “keep our bodies under, and 
bring them into subjection,” or ourselves be “castaways,” 


~ 


BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST. 215 


In every department of the Christian life and work, we are 
‘‘Jaborers together with God,” and encircled with adversaries 
ever wakeful, watchful, and of mighty power. Such considera- 
tions, while they should not dim our hopes, weaken our assur- 
ances, or lessen our fulness of joy, should render us “ sober- 
minded” and ‘watchful unto prayer.” ‘There is no time for 
trifling here,” for anything but sober-minded circumspection. 
If we will be thus “sober and vigilant,” Christ through the 
Spirit will “make all grace abound toward us,” so that we shall 
‘‘always have all-sufficiency in a// things.” But “if we will not 
watch, Christ will come upon us as a thief,” and “remove our 
candlestick out its place.” 


ry 
y bad 
+8 ppd 


Date Due 


so amor + 


53 Late 


ae elY 


| 


D 


Library 


| 


Il 


1 1012 01019 


Seminary 


| 


w 
4 
a 
2 
° 
© 
= 
~ 
c 
So 
=} 
@ 
° 
= 
= 
a 


AMM 


| 


22> 


ht esi 


